Two Models Relevant to the Interaction of a Point Charge and a Magnetic Moment

Abstract

An understanding of the interaction of a point charge and a magnetic moment is crucial for understanding the experiments involving electromagnetic momentum carried by permeable materials as well as the experimentally-observed Aharonov-Bohm and Aharonov-Casher phase shifts. Here we present two simple models for a magnetic moment which have vastly different interactions with a distant point charge. It is suggested that a satisfactory theoretical understanding of the interaction is still lacking and that the "hidden momentum" interpretation has been introduced into the textbook literature prematurely.