Magnetic Properties of Scalar Particles --The Scalar Aharonov-Casher Effect and Supersymmetry

Xiao-Gang He, Bruce H. McKellar

Published 2002-08-01, updated 2003-02-18Version 3

The original topological Aharonov-Casher (AC) effect is due to the interaction of the anomalous magnetic dipole moment (MDM) with certain configurations of electric field. Naively one would not expect an AC effect for a scalar particle for which no anomalous MDM can be defined in the usual sense. In this letter we study the AC effect in supersymmetric systems. In this framework there is the possibility of deducing the AC effect of a scalar particle from the corresponding effect for a spinor particle. In 3+1 dimensions such a connection is not possible because the anomalous MDM is zero if supersymmetry is an exact symmetry. However, in 2+1 dimensions it is possible to have an anomalous MDM even with exact supersymmetry. Having demonstrated the relationship between the spinor and the scalar MDM, we proceed to show that the scalar AC effect is uniquely defined. We then compute the anomalous MDM at the one loop level, showing how the scalar form arises in 2+1 dimensions from the coupling of the scalar to spinors. This model shows how an AC effect for a scalar can be generated for non-supersymmetric theories, and we construct such a model to illustrate the mechanism.