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Soviet Physics Uspekhi

Feynman path integrals in a phase space

Felix Alexandrovich Berezin

Published Nov 30, 1980• 107 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Feynman path integrals in a phase space are analyzed in detail. The analysis is based on the theory of operator symbols, in contrast with the traditional approach based on the direct use of canonical commutation relations. Particular attention is paid to the Weyl and Wick symbols, which are the most important in applications. The set of paths on which the integral is concentrated is studied. It is found that these paths are always discontinuous. This discontinuity is responsible for errors in certain papers on path integrals in a phase space. The most important properties of the Weyl and Wick symbols are reviewed.

DOI
10.1070/pu1980v023n11abeh005062

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Feynman path integrals in a phase space are analyzed in detail. The analysis is based on the theory of operator symbols, in contrast with the traditional approach based on the direct use of canonical commutation relations. Particular attention is paid to the Weyl and Wick symbols, which are the most important in applications. The set of paths on which the integral is concentrated is studied. It is found that these paths are always discontinuous. This discontinuity is responsible for errors in certain papers on path integrals in a phase space. The most important properties of the Weyl and Wick symbols are reviewed.
To describe physics properly, we need to take into account quantum effects. Thus, for every non-quantum physical theory, we must come up with an appropriate quantum theory. A traditional approach is to replace all the scalars in the classical description of this theory by the corresponding operators. The problem with the above approach is that due to non-commutativity of the quantum operators, two mathematically equivalent formulations of the classical theory can lead to different (non-equivalent) quantum theories. An alternative quantization approach that directly transforms the non-quantum action functional into the appropriate quantum theory, was indeed proposed by the Nobelist Richard Feynman, under the name of path integration. Feynman path integration is not just a foundational idea, it is actually an efficient computing tool (Feynman diagrams).\nFrom the pragmatic viewpoint, Feynman path integral is a great success. However, from the foundational viewpoint, we still face an important question: why the Feynman's path integration formula? In this paper, we provide a natural explanation for Feynman's path integration formula.
"Feynman path integrals are ubiquitous in quantum physics, even if a large part of the scientific community still considers them as a heuristic tool that lacks a sound mathematical definition. Our book aims to refute this prejudice, providing an extensive and self-contained description of the mathematical theory of Feynman path integration, from the earlier attempts to the latest developments, as well as its applications to quantum mechanics. This second edition presents a detailed discussion of the general theory of complex integration on infinite dimensional spaces, providing on one hand a unified view of the various existing approaches to the mathematical construction of Feynman path integrals and on the other hand a connection with the classical theory of stochastic processes. Moreover, new chapters containing recent applications to several dynamical systems have been added. This book bridges between the realms of stochastic analysis and the theory of Feynman path integration. It is accessible to both mathematicians and physicists"--
This note is devoted to Feynman formulas (i.e., representations of semigroups by limits of n -fold iterated integrals as n → ∞) and their connections with phase space Feynman path integrals. Some pseudodifferential operators corresponding to different types of quantization of a quadratic Hamiltonian function are considered. Lagrangian and Hamiltonian Feynman formulas for semigroups generated by these operators are obtained. Further, a construction of Hamiltonian (phase space) Feynman path integrals is introduced. Due to this construction, the Hamiltonian Feynman formulas obtained here and in our previous papers do coincide with Hamiltonian Feynman path integrals. This connects phase space Feynman path integrals with some integrals with respect to probability measures. These connections enable us to make a contribution to the theory of phase space Feynman path integrals, to prove the existence of some of these integrals, and to study their properties by means of stochastic analysis. The Feynman path integrals thus obtained are different for different types of quantization. This makes it possible to distinguish the process of quantization in the language of Feynman path integrals.