On the Equivalence of Phase and Field Charges

Abstract

The analysis of the gauge principle as a mere passive symmetry requirement leads to the conclusion that the connection term in the covariant derivative is flat and that local phase transformations are without any empirical significance in analogy to coordinate transformations. Nevertheless, the Aharonov-Bohm effect shows the physical significance of the non-trivial holonomy of a flat connection. On this basis the proposal of a new kind of charge, the phase charge, is made, understood as the coupling strength of the particle to the holonomy. The equivalence of phase and usual field charge must be tested experimentally in terms of an Aharonov-Bohm effect with muons or tauons, for instance.