  The magnetic Aharonov-Bohm effect shows that charged particles may be
affected by the vector potential in regions without any electric or magnetic
fields [1]. The Aharonov-Bohm effect was experimentally confirmed [2-3] and has
been found in many situations [4-6]. A common explanation is based on quantum
mechanics, which states that the wavefunctions associated with the charges will
accumulate a phase shift due to the vector potential. However, consensus about
its nature and interpretation has not been achieved [7-14]. We here propose a
simple but reasonable interpretation based on the theory for electromagnetic
radiation and couplings [15]. The energy associated with a pulse radiator is
divided into a Coulomb-velocity energy and a radiative energy, together with a
macroscopic Schott energy accounting for the energy exchange between them. All
these energies are expressed with terms including the potentials, so are the
mutual coupling energies. There exists a force acting on the moving charges
even though the fields completely vanish. This force makes the charges pass
through the magnetic solenoid in different velocity with different path length,
causing a phase shift the same as that obtained with quantum mechanics. The
theory is originally aimed for providing an interpretation for electromagnetic
radiation and mutual coupling. It is derived directly from the Maxwell theory
with no modification but only substitution and reorganization.
