We present an explicit path integral evaluation of the free Hamiltonian propagator on the (D-1)-dimensional pseudosphere, in the horicyclic coordinates, using the integral equation method. This method consists in deriving an integral equation for the propagator that turns out to be of Abel's type.
In the probability representation of the standard quantum mechanics, the explicit expression (and its quasiclassical van-Fleck approximation) for the ``classical'' propagator (transition probability distribution), which completely describes the quantum system's evolution, is found in terms of the quantum propagator. An expression for the ``classical'' propagator in terms of path integral is derived. Examples of free motion and harmonic oscillator are considered. The evolution equation in the Bargmann representation of the optical tomography approach is obtained.
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.
Making use of the expression for the propagator in terms of path integrals, we study the effect of certain variational symmetries of a Lagrangian on the corresponding propagator. We also show that by considering a point transformation that relates two different Lagrangians one can obtain a relation between the corresponding propagators.
We introduce a notion of isolated units, elementary particles or more general physical phenomena that do not significantly affect their surrounding environment, and we build a primitive ontology to describe their evolution and interaction. We further introduce a notion of indistinguishability of distinct spacetime paths of a unit, for which the evolution of the state variables of the unit is the same, and a generalization of the equivalence principle based on indistinguishability. Under a time invertibility condition on the whole set of indistinguishable paths of a unit, we show that the quant…
In this work we solve exactly a class of three-body propagators for the most general quadratic interactions in the coordinates, for arbitrary masses and couplings. This is done both for the constant as the time-dependent couplings and masses, by using the Feynman path integral formalism. Finally the energy spectrum and the eigenfunctions are recovered from the propagators.
We simplify and generalize an approach proposed by Di Vecchia and Ravndal to describe a massive Dirac particle in external vector and scalar fields. Two different path integral representations for the propagator are derived systematically without the usual five-dimensional extension and shown to be equivalent due to the supersymmetry of the action. They correspond to a projection on the mass of the particle either continuously or at the end of the time evolution. It is shown that the supersymmetry transformations are generated by shifting and scaling the supertimes and the invariant difference…
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…
A variation to the usual formulation of Grassmann representation path integrals is presented. Time-indexed anticommuting partners are introduced for each Grassmann coherent state variable and a general method for handling the effect of these introduced Grassmann partners is also developed. These Grassmann partners carry the nilpotency and anticommutivity of the Grassmann coherent state variables into the propagator and allow the propagator to be written as a path integral. Two examples are introduced in which this variation is shown to yield exact results. In particular, exact results are demo…
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…
Starting from Feynman's Lagrangian description of quantum mechanics, we propose a method to construct explicitly the propagator for the Wigner distribution function of a single system. For general quadratic Lagrangians, only the classical phase space trajectory is found to contribute to the propagator. Inspired by Feynman's and Vernon's influence functional theory we extend the method to calculate the propagator for the reduced Wigner function of a system of interest coupled to an external system. Explicit expressions are obtained when the external system consists of a set of independent harmo…
The one-sided bouncer and the symmetric bouncer involve a one-dimensional particle in a piecewise linear potential. For such problems, the time-dependent quantum mechanical propagator cannot be found in closed form. The semiclassical Feynman path integral is a very appealing approach, as it approximates the propagator by a closed-form expression (a sum over a finite number of classical paths). In this paper we solve the classical path enumeration problem. We obtain closed-form expressions for the initial velocity, bounce times, focal times, action, van Vleck determinant, and Morse index for ea…
In this and subsequent paper arXiv:1011.5185 we develop a recursive approach for calculating the short-time expansion of the propagator for a general quantum system in a time-dependent potential to orders that have not yet been accessible before. To this end the propagator is expressed in terms of a discretized effective potential, for which we derive and analytically solve a set of efficient recursion relations. Such a discretized effective potential can be used to substantially speed up numerical Monte Carlo simulations for path integrals, or to set up various analytic approximation techniqu…
Mensky has suggested to account for "continuous measurement" by attaching to a path integral a weight function centered around the classical path that the integral assigns a probability amplitude to. We show that in fact this weight function doesn't have to be viewed as an additional ingredient put in by hand. It can be derived instead from the conventional path integral if the infinitesimal term iε in the propagator is made finite; the "classical trajectory" is proportional to the current.
We introduce, for the first time, bicoherent-state path integration as a method for quantizing non-hermitian systems. Bicoherent-state path integrals arise as a natural generalization of ordinary coherent-state path integrals, familiar from hermitian quantum physics. We do all this by working out a concrete example, namely, computation of the propagator of a certain quasi-hermitian variant of Swanson's model, which is not invariant under conventional $PT$-transformation. The resulting propagator coincides with that of the propagator of the standard harmonic oscillator, which is isospectral wit…
A quantum mechanical path integral derivation is given of a thermal propagator in non-static Gui spacetime. The thermal nature of the propagator is understood in terms of homotopically non-trivial paths in the configuration space appropriate to tortoise coordinates. The connection to thermal emission from collapsing black holes is discussed.
This paper considers the Schroedinger propagator on a cone with the conical singularity carrying magnetic flux (``flux cone''). Starting from the operator formalism and then combining techniques of path integration in polar coordinates and in spaces with constraints, the propagator and its path integral representation are derived. "Quantum correction" in the Lagrangian appears naturally and no a priori assumption is made about connectivity of the configuration space.
We revisit the analysis of sharp infinite potentials within the path integral formalism using the image method [1]. We show that the use of a complete set of energy eigenstates that satisfy the boundary conditions of an infinite wall precisely generates the propagator proposed in Ref. [1]. We then show the validity of the image method by using supersymmetric quantum mechanics to relate a potential without a sharp boundary to the infinite square well and derive its propagator with an infinite number of image charges. Finally, we show that the image method readily generates the propagator for th…
A recent proposal to connect the loop quantization with the spin foam model for cosmology via the path integral is hereby adapted to the case of mechanical systems within the framework of the so called polymer quantum mechanics. The mechanical models we consider are deparametrized and thus the group averaging technique is used to deal with the corresponding constraints. The transition amplitudes are written in a vertex expansion form used in the spin foam models, where here a vertex is actually a jump in position. Polymer propagators previously obtained by spectral methods for a nonrelativisti…
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…
The propagator of a spinless particle is calculated from the quantum mechanical path integral formalism in static curved spacetimes endowed with event-horizons. A toy model, the Gui spacetime, and the 2D and 4D Schwarzschild black holes are considered. The role of the topology of the coordinates configuration space is emphasised in this framework. To cover entirely the above spacetimes with a single set of coordinates, tortoise coordinates are extended to complex values. It is shown that the homotopic properties of the complex tortoise configuration space imply the thermal behaviour of the pro…
We present three methods for calculating the Feynman propagator for the non-relativistic harmonic oscillator. The first method was employed by Schwinger a half a century ago, but has rarely been used in non-relativistic problems since. Also discussed is an algebraic method and a path integral method so that the reader can compare the advantages and disadvantages of each method.
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 use a continuous-time path integral to obtain the semiclassical propagator for minimal-spread spin coherent states. We pay particular attention to the ``extra phase'' discovered by Solari and Kochetov, and show that this correction is related to an anomaly in the fluctuation determinant. We show that, once this extra factor is included, the semiclassical propagator has the correct short time behaviour to $O(T^2)$, and demonstrate its consistency under dissection of the path