Electromagnetic vacuum fluctuations and electron coherence.

The coupling of the quantized electromagnetic field to coherent electrons is investigated. The effects both of photon emission and of the electromagnetic vacuum fluctuations upon electron interference are analyzed. The modifications of the vacuum fluctuations due to a conducting plate lead to a decrease in the amplitude of the interference oscillations. The possibility of observing this effect is discussed. It is also shown that there is an analogue of the Aharonov-Bohm effect in which electron interference is sensitive to vacuum fluctuations in regions from which the electrons are excluded