Searching for Effects of Spatial Noncommutativity via Chern-Simons' Processes

Abstract

The possibility of testing spatial noncommutativity in the case of both position-position and momentum-momentum noncommuting via a Chern-Simons' process is explored. A Chern-Simons process can be realized by an interaction of a charged particle in special crossed electric and magnetic fields, in which the Chern-Simons term leads to non-trivial dynamics in the limit of vanishing kinetic energy. Spatial noncommutativity leads to the spectrum of the orbital angular momentum possessing fractional values. Furthermore, in both limits of vanishing kinetic energy and subsequent vanishing magnetic field, the Chern-Simons term leads to this system having non-trivial dynamics again, and the dominant value of the lowest orbital angular momentum being $\hbar/4$, which is a clear signal of spatial noncommutativity. An experimental verification of this prediction by a Stern-Gerlach-type experiment is suggested.