DOUBLE-VALUEDNESS OF THE ELECTRON WAVEFUNCTION AND ROTATIONAL ZERO-POINT MOTION OF ELECTRONS IN RINGS

Abstract

I propose that the phase of an electron's wavefunction changes by π when the electron goes around a loop maintaining phase coherence. Equivalently, that the minimum orbital angular momentum of an electron in a ring is ℏ/2 rather than zero as generally assumed, hence, that the electron in a ring has azimuthal zero point motion. This proposal implies that a spin current exists in the ground state of aromatic ring molecules and suggests an explanation for the ubiquitousness of persistent currents observed in mesoscopic rings.