Maxwell Duality, Lorentz Invariance, and Topological Phase

Abstract

We discuss the Maxwell electromagnetic duality relations between the Aharonov-Bohm, Aharonov-Casher, and He-McKellar-Wilkens topological phases, which allow a unified description of all three phenomena. We also elucidate Lorentz transformations which allow these effects to be understood in an intuitive fashion in the rest frame of the moving quantum particle. Finally, we propose two experimental schemes for measuring the He-McKellar-Wilkens phase.