Note on Dirac's Theory of Magnetic Poles

Saha, M.

doi:10.1103/physrev.75.1968

Cited by 52 publications

(32 citation statements)

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“…After Dirac's 1931 seminal paper, Saha [33] presented in 1936 a semi-classical derivation of the Dirac quantisation condition based on the quantisation of the electromagnetic angular momentum associated to the static configuration formed by an electric charge and a magnetic charge separated by a finite distance, the so-called Thomson dipole ( [34], see also [35]). This same derivation was independently presented in 1949 by Wilson [36,37]. In 1944, Fierz [38] derived the Dirac condition by quantising the electromagnetic angular momentum arising from the classical interaction of a moving charge in the field of a stationary magnetic monopole.…”

Section: Status Of the Dirac Quantisation Condition: Past And Presentmentioning

confidence: 85%

“…Hence, following the quantum logic, if we put this = h/(2π), the fundamental unit of angular momentum, we have µ = ch/(4πe) which is just the result obtained by Dirac." This relatively simple semi-classical argument to arrive at the Dirac condition [with n = 1] remained almost ignored until 1949 when Wilson [36,37] used the same argument to obtain this condition [now with n integer]. Let us develop in more detail the derivation of Dirac's condition suggested by Saha and also by Wilson.…”

Section: Semi-classical Derivations Of the Dirac Quantisation Conditionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dirac quantisation condition: a comprehensive review

Heras

2018

Contemporary Physics

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In most introductory courses on electrodynamics, one is taught the electric charge is quantised but no theoretical explanation related to this law of nature is offered. Such an explanation is postponed to graduate courses on electrodynamics, quantum mechanics and quantum field theory, where the famous Dirac quantisation condition is introduced, which states that a single magnetic monopole in the Universe would explain the electric charge quantisation. Even when this condition assumes the existence of a not-yet-detected magnetic monopole, it provides the most accepted explanation for the observed quantisation of the electric charge. However, the usual derivation of the Dirac quantisation condition involves the subtle concept of an "unobservable" semi-infinite magnetised line, the so-called "Dirac string," which may be difficult to grasp in a first view of the subject. The purpose of this review is to survey the concepts underlying the Dirac quantisation condition, in a way that may be accessible to advanced undergraduate and graduate students. Some of the discussed concepts are gauge invariance, singular potentials, single-valuedness of the wave function, undetectability of the Dirac string and quantisation of the electromagnetic angular momentum. Five quantum-mechanical and three semi-classical derivations of the Dirac quantisation condition are reviewed. In addition, a simple derivation of this condition involving heuristic and formal arguments is presented.

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Section: Status Of the Dirac Quantisation Condition: Past And Presentmentioning

confidence: 85%

Section: Semi-classical Derivations Of the Dirac Quantisation Conditionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dirac quantisation condition: a comprehensive review

Heras

2018

Contemporary Physics

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“…Thomson result (17) was used by Saha (Saha, 1949) and independently by Wilson (Wilson, 1949) to get the same quantization condition that Dirac had obtained earlier (we will revise Dirac's argument below). The idea is that, from quantum mechanics, the angular momentum is quantized.…”

Section: The Semiclassical Quatization Rules By Saha and Wilsonmentioning

confidence: 93%

Topological Electromagnetism: Knots and Quantization Rules

Arrayás¹,

Trueba²,

Rañada³

2012

Trends in Electromagnetism - From Fundamentals to Applications

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“…DiracÕs magnetic monopole papers [3,4] presented the charge quantization formula (a very different approach, using quantization of angular momentum was used by Saha [8,9] and Wilson [13]; see also Fierz [6]). Torrence and Tulczyjew [12] established a Poisson structure governing the motion of an electric charge in an electromagnetic field and also gave a Lagrangian description (different from ours), working, apparently, with the case of an electromagnetic field described by an exact 2-form F .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%