Further Considerations on Electromagnetic Potentials in the Quantum Theory

Abstract

In this article, we discuss in further detail the significance of potentials in the quantum theory, and in so doing, we answer a number of arguments that have been raised against the conclusions of our first paper on the same subject. We then proceed to extend our treatment to include the sources of potentials quantum-mechanically, and we show that when this is done, the same results are obtained as those of our first paper, in which the potential was taken to be a specified function of space and time. In this way, we not only answer certain additional criticisms that have been made of the original treatment, but we also bring out more clearly the importance of the potential in the expression of the local character of the interaction of charged particles and the electromagnetic field.