Fernández-Rañada, Antonio2023-06-202023-06-2019950-7923-3670-410.1007/978-94-015-8529-3_26https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/60824International Symposium on Fundamental Problems in Quantum Physics (1993. Oviedo). © 1995 Kluwer Academic Publishers.A recently proposed topological model of the electromagnetic field is described, which is based in the existence of electromagnetic knots, standard solutions of the Maxwell equations, characterized by the linking numbers n and m of the electric and magnetic vectors, the magnetic and electric helicities having the values h_(mag) = 2nћ, h_(e)l = 2mћ. The model coincides locally with the classical Maxwell standard theory, but it is globally nonequivalent because its topological properties imply what is called a hidden nonlinearity: the fields span only a nonlinear subset of the solutions of a linear equation. Two consequences of the topological structure are important: the classical expression for the difference between the numbers of right handed and left handed photons is equal to n + m, having thus a topological interpretation, and the electric charge is quantized, the fundamental value being close to 14/3 times de electron charge.book parthttp://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8529-3_26http://link.springer.commetadata only access537Topological QuantizationElectromagnetic FieldsKnots.ElectricidadElectrónica (Física)2202.03 Electricidad