Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-year-1-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2016/paper-1/20/a/ii/solution

Yes. For any sufficiently smooth scalar , the gauge transformation
leaves its curl unchanged because . This freedom is much larger than adding a constant vector: for example, adds the nonconstant vector . Two vector potentials for the same field differ by a curl-free field; on a simply connected domain that difference is a gradient, while nontrivial topology may allow additional global freedom.

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