QUANTUM TRANSPORT AND THE ELECTRONIC AHARONOV-CASHER EFFECT

We show that the effects of spin-orbit interaction in disordered conductors are manifestations of the Aharonov-Casher effect in the same sense as the effects of weak magnetic fields are manifestations of the Aharonov-Bohm effect. We propose that, in semiconducting samples, conductance oscillations should occur due to the Aharonov-Casher effect, whose observation would constitute a thousandfold improvement in its measurement. As in the disordered Aharonov-Bohm effect, these oscillations have half the period expected from the conventional Aharonov-Casher effect.