Gauge independent description of Aharonov-Bohm Effect

The Aharonov-Bohm (AB) effect is a pure quantum effect that implies a measurable phase shift in the wave function for a charged particle that encircles a magnetic flux located in a region inaccessible to the particle. Classically, such a non-local effect appears to be impossible since the Lorentz force depends on only the magnetic field at the location of the particle. In quantum mechanics, the Hamiltonian, and thus the Schrödinger equation, has a local coupling between the current due to the particle, and the electromagnetic vector potential mathbf{A}, which extends to the entire space beyond the region with finite magnetic field. This has sometimes been interpreted as meaning that in quantum mechanics mathbf{A} is in some sense more "fundamental" than mathbf {B} in spite of the former being gauge dependent, and thus unobservable. Here we shall, with a general proof followed by a few examples, demonstrate that the AB-effect can be fully accounted for by considering only the gauge invariant mathbf{B} field, as long as it is included as part of the quantum action of the entire isolated system. The price for the gauge invariant formulation is that we must give up locality - the AB-phase for the particle will arise from the change in the action for the mathbf{B} field in the region inaccessible to the particle.