Theory of classical electrodynamics with topologically quantized singularities as electric charges

Abstract

We formulate a theory of classical electrodynamics where the only admissible electric charges are topological singularities in the electromagnetic field, and charge quantization is accounted by the Chern theorem, such that Dirac magnetic monopoles are not needed. The theory allows positive and negative charges of equal magnitude, where the sign of the charge corresponds to the chirality of the topological singularity. Given the trajectory $\mathbf{w}(t)$ of the singularity, one can calculate electric and magnetic fields identical to those produced by Maxwell's equations for a moving point charge, apart from a multiplicative constant factor related to electron charge and vacuum permittivity. The theory is based on the relativistic Weyl equation in frequency-wavevector space, with eigenstates comprising the position, velocity, and acceleration of the singularity, and eigenvalues defining the retarded position of the charge. From the eigenstates we calculate the Berry connection and the Berry curvatures, and identify the curvatures as electric and magnetic fields.

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