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Journal of Mathematical Physics

Path integrals with a periodic constraint: Entangled strings

Akira Inomata, Vijay A. Singh

Published Nov 1, 1978• 58 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Path integrals with a periodic constraint ∫θ̇ ds =Θ̄+2πn (n=integer) are studied. In particular, the path integral for a string entangled around a singular point in two dimensions is evaluated in polar coordinates. Applications are made for the entangled polymers with and without interactions, the Aharonov–Bohm effect, and the angular momentum projection of a spinning top.

DOI
10.1063/1.523588

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Path integrals with a periodic constraint ∫θ̇ ds =Θ̄+2πn (n=integer) are studied. In particular, the path integral for a string entangled around a singular point in two dimensions is evaluated in polar coordinates. Applications are made for the entangled polymers with and without interactions, the Aharonov–Bohm effect, and the angular momentum projection of a spinning top.
The Aharonov–Bohm effect is formulated in terms of a constrained path integral. The path integral is explicitly evaluated in the covering space of the physical background to express the propagator as a sum of partial propagators corresponding to homotopically different paths. The interference terms are also calculated for an infinitely thin solenoid, which are found to contain the usual flux dependent shift as the dominant observable effect and an additional topological shift unnoticeable in the two slit interference experiment.
The Aharonov-Bohm effect is investigated in the Feynman path-integral formulation of quantum mechanics. We consider an idealized situation with an electron moving in a magnetic-field-free region outside a solenoid whose radius to length ratio is very small. The nonvanishing vector potential term in the Lagrangian is written as an angular-velocity-dependent potential. In order to account for a singularity due to the presence of the solenoid itself, a periodic constraint is imposed on the path integral. The propagator can then be evaluated using the polar-coordinate methods of Peak and Inomata. It is found that the propagator has the general form $K({\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{\mathrm{r}}}^{\ensuremath{'}\ensuremath{'}},{\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{\mathrm{r}}}^{\ensuremath{'}};\ensuremath{\tau})=\ensuremath{\Sigma}{n}^{}{\ensuremath{\chi}}_{n}{K}_{n}({\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{\mathrm{r}}}^{\ensuremath{'}\ensuremath{'}},{\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{\mathrm{r}}}^{\ensuremath{'}};\ensuremath{\tau})$ where the sum is taken over all classes of homotopic paths and the ${\ensuremath{\chi}}_{n}$ are a one-dimensional representation of the homotopy group. This is the form of the propagator as conjectured by Schulman.
The path integral for the potential is evaluated in three different coordinate systems, i. e. in cartesian coordinates, in polar coordinates and in parabolic coordinates. The equivalence between the different approaches is shown and in each case the energyspectrum and the wave functions are explicitly calculated. Furthermore we discuss special cases, including the ring-potential, the Coulomb potential with an Aharonov-Bohm solenoid, and the genuine Coulomb problem. We also point out the separability of the path integral formulation of the ring-potential in spheroidal coordinates, and of the Coulomb potential in spheroidal and spheroconical coordinates, respectively.
Abstract In this chapter, we generalize the previous path integral expression to a wider class of physical systems. To this end, we first discuss a change of variables in the path integral and the relationship to the operator formalism, and build up the polar coordinate path integral formula. Next we determine those cases where the p and q are confined within some restricted region, known as constrained systems, by applying the Faddeev-Senjanovic path integral formula to a sphere. Further we discuss quantum mechanics on a ring and the Aharonov-Bohm effect as the simplest examples of multiply connected space characterized by unshrinkable closed loops in configuration space. Also we make some comments on quantum mechanics for a more general manifold. In the next section the path integral for spin is de- rived with a newly introduced coherent state that also gives an alternative expression for the harmonic oscillator. Then, finally, cases where the WKB approximation happens to be exact are analysed.
Use of polar coordinates is examined in performing summation over all Feynman histories. Several relationships for the Lagrangian path integral and the Hamiltonian path integral are derived in the central-force problem. Applications are made for a harmonic oscillator, a charged particle in a uniform magnetic field, a particle in an inverse-square potential, and a rigid rotator. Transformations from Cartesian to polar coordinates in path integrals are rather different from those in ordinary calculus and this complicates evaluation of path integrals in polars. However, it is observed that for systems of central symmetry use of polars is often advantageous over Cartesians.