We present a derivation of the propagator for a particle in the presence of the step and delta function potentials. These propagators are known, but we present a direct path integral derivation, based on the path decomposition expansion and the Brownian motion definition of the path integral. The derivation exploits properties of the Catalan numbers, which enumerate certain classes of lattice paths.
We present a direct path integral derivation of the propagator in the presence of a step potential. The derivation makes use of the Path Decomposition Expansion (PDX), and also of the definition of the propagator as a limit of lattice paths.
We determine the generating function of the harmonic oscillator by a new method. Using this generating function we derive the eigenfunctions of the moment p. We find that the normalization of these eigenfunctions is a real and not complex number with phase factor chosen equal one (standard books of quantum mechanics). We prove that the integral of the delta function is equal to one and we derive the oscillator propagator.
We begin by giving correct expressions for the short-time action; following the work of one of us and Makri--Miller. We use these estimates to derive a correct expression modulo modulo delta(t)sqr for the quantum propagator and we show that the quantum potential is negligible modulo delta(t)sqr for a point source. We finally prove that this implies that the quantum motion is classical for very short times.
The Dirac delta function and the Feynman propagator of the harmonic oscillator are found by a simple calculation using Fock Bargmann space and the generating function of the harmonic oscillator. With help of the Schwinger generating function of Wigner's D-matrix elements we derive the generating function of spherical harmonics, the quadratic transformations and the generating functions of: the characters of SU (2), Legendre and Gegenbauer polynomials. We also deduce the van der Wearden invariant of 3-j symbols of SU (2). Using the Fock Bargmann space and its complex conjugate we find the integ…
We follow the emergence of quantum entanglement in a scattering event between two initially uncorrelated distinguishable quantum particles interacting via a delta potential. We calculate the time dependence of the Neumann entropy of the one-particle reduced density matrix. By using the exact propagator for the delta potential, we derive an approximate analytic formula for the asymptotic form of the two-particle wave function which is sufficiently accurate to account for the entanglement features of the system.
In designing quantum control, it is generally required to simulate the controlled system evolution with a classical computer. However, computing the time evolution operator can be quite resource-consuming since the total Hamiltonian is often hard to diagonalize. In this paper, we mitigate this issue by substituting the time evolution segments with their Trotter decompositions, which reduces the propagator into a combination of single-qubit operations and fixed-time system evolutions. The resulting procedure can provide substantial speed gain with acceptable costs in the propagator error. As a …
The controllability property of the unitary propagator of an N-level quantum mechanical system subject to a single control field is described using the structure theory of semisimple Lie algebras. Sufficient conditions are provided for the vector fields in a generic configuration as well as in a few degenerate cases.
The propagator associated to the potential barrier $V=V_{0}\cosh ^{-2}(ωx)$ is obtained by solving path integrals. The method of delta functionals based on canonical and other transformations is used to reduce the path integral for this potential into a path integral for the Morse potential problem. The dimensional extension technique is seen to be essential for performing the multiple integral representation of the propagator. The correctly normalized scattering wave functions and the scattering function are derived. To test the method employed, the free particle and the $δ-$function barrier …
We study the evolution of the most general initial Gaussian packet with nonzero correlation coefficient between the coordinate and momentum operators in the presence of a repulsive delta potential barrier, using the known exact propagator of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation. For the initial packet localized far enough from the barrier, we define the transmission coefficient as the probability of discovering the particle in the whole semi-axis on the other side of the barrier. It appears that the asymptotical transmission coefficient (calculated in the large time limit) depends on two di…
This paper suggests a new way to compute the path integral for simple quantum mechanical systems. The new algorithm originated from previous research in string theory. However, its essential simplicity is best illustrated in the case of a free non relativistic particle, discussed here, and can be appreciated by most students taking an introductory course in Quantum Mechanics. Indeed, the emphasis is on the role played by the {\it entire family of classical trajectories} in terms of which the path integral is computed exactly using a functional representation of the Dirac delta-distribution. We…
The path decomposition expansion is a path integral technique for decomposing sums over paths in configuration space into sums over paths in different spatial regions. It leads to a decomposition of the configuration space propagator across arbitrary surfaces in configuration space. It may be used, for example, in calculations of the distribution of first crossing times. The original proof relied heavily on the position representation and in particular on the properties of path integrals. In this paper, an elementary proof of the path decomposition expansion is given using projection operators…
We present an algorithmic method for the digital quantum simulation of many-body locally indivisible non-Markovian open quantum systems. It consists of two parts: firstly, a Suzuki-Lie-Trotter decomposition of the global system propagator into the product of subsystem propagators, which may not be quantum channels, and secondly, an algorithmic procedure for the implementation of the subsystem propagators through unitary operations and measurements on a dilated space. By providing rigorous error bounds for the relevant Suzuki-Lie-Trotter decomposition, we are able to analyze the efficiency of t…
We outline a new approach to calculating the quantum mechanical propagator in the presence of geometrically non-trivial Dirichlet boundary conditions based upon a generalisation of an integral transform of the propagator studied in previous work (the so-called ``hit function''), and a convergent sequence of Padé approximants. In this paper the generalised hit function is defined as a many-point propagator and we describe its relation to the sum over trajectories in the Feynman path integral. We then show how it can be used to calculate the Feynman propagator. We calculate analytically all such…
A number of approaches to the arrival time problem employ a complex potential of a simple step function type and the arrival time distribution may then be calculated using the stationary scattering wave functions. Here, it is shown that in the Zeno limit (in which the potential becomes very large), the arrival time distribution may be obtained in a clear and simple way using a path integral representation of the propagator together with the path decomposition expansion (in which the propagator is factored across a surface of constant time). This method also shows that the same result is obtain…
It is of interest in a variety of contexts, and in particular in the arrival time problem, to consider the quantum state obtained through unitary evolution of an initial state regularly interspersed with periodic projections onto the positive $x$-axis (pulsed measurements). Echanobe, del Campo and Muga have given a compelling but heuristic argument that the state thus obtained is approximately equivalent to the state obtained by evolving in the presence of a certain complex potential of step-function form. In this paper, with the help of the path decomposition expansion of the associated propa…
We study the behavior of a quantum particle, trapped in localized potential, when the trapping potential starts suddenly to move with constant velocity. In one dimension we have reproduced the results obtained by Granot and Marchewka, Ref. \cite{Granot09}, for an attractive delta function, using an approach based on a spectral decomposition, rather than on the propagator. We have also considered the cases of Pöschl-Teller and simple harmonic oscillator potentials (in one dimension) and to the hydrogen atom (in three dimensions). In this last case we have calculated explicitly the leading contr…
The quantum Rabi model (QRM) is widely recognized as an important model in quantum systems, particularly in quantum optics. The Hamiltonian $H_{\text{Rabi}}$ is known to have a parity decomposition $H_{\text{Rabi}} = H_{+} \oplus H_{-}$. In this paper, we give the explicit formulas for the propagator of the Schrödinger equation (integral kernel of the time evolution operator) for the Hamiltonian $H_{\text{Rabi}}$ and $H_{\pm}$ by the Wick rotation (meromorphic continuation) of the corresponding heat kernels. In addition, as in the case of the full Hamiltonian of the QRM, we show that for the H…
A path-integral approach for the computation of quantum-mechanical propagators and energy Green's functions is presented. Its effectiveness is demonstrated through its application to singular interactions, with particular emphasis on the inverse square potential--possibly combined with a delta-function interaction. The emergence of these singular potentials as low-energy nonrelativistic limits of quantum field theory is highlighted. Not surprisingly, the analogue of ultraviolet regularization is required for the interpretation of these singular problems.
