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EVOLUTION OF THE CONCEPT OF THE VECTOR POTENTIAL IN THE DESCRIPTION OF FUNDAMENTAL INTERACTIONS

Harrison Randall Laboratory of Physics and Michigan Center for Theoretical Physics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1120, USA

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CHEN NING YANG

Chinese University, Hong Kong, China

Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China

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https://doi.org/10.1142/S0217751X06033143Cited by:23 (Source: Crossref)

Abstract

Modern theories of fundamental interactions are based on the concept of "connections," a generalization of the vector potential A. How did this concept evolve in physics? We attempt in the present paper to trace this evolution, starting from the early 19th century. A schematic diagram which charts this evolution is exhibited (Fig. 1).

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