With Feynman's path- integral method we can obtain the quantum mechanics of a quantum system like a free particle outside Schroedinger's method of differential equations and Heisenberg's method of algebra. The work involves obtaining the quantum propagator Kf, of the system which leads to summation over infinite number of paths. With Van Vleck's formula in one dimension, the classical propagator Kcl for a free particle is computed as the analytical result. This then serves as a yardstick for justifying the theoretical method used to compute the quantum propagator, kf, by direct path summation. The graphical display of the results shows that the Feynman – Schulman's checkerboard model used to enumerate the paths is reliable. Furthermore, this work shows that by windowing off a large number of paths and weighting the rest non uniformly we can compute the required propagator. The weights used in this case are the random and exponential window functions, wr and we respectively, which yield kwr and kwe to compare with kf. Key words: Propagator, action, path - integral, window function, free particle. (Global Journal of Pure and Applied Sciences: 2003 9(4): 561-566)
With Feynman's path- integral method we can obtain the quantum mechanics of a quantum system like a free particle outside Schroedinger's method of differential equations and Heisenberg's method of algebra. The work involves obtaining the quantum propagator Kf, of the system which leads to summation over infinite number of paths. With Van Vleck's formula in one dimension, the classical propagator Kcl for a free particle is computed as the analytical result. This then serves as a yardstick for justifying the theoretical method used to compute the quantum propagator, kf, by direct path summation. The graphical display of the results shows that the Feynman – Schulman's checkerboard model used to enumerate the paths is reliable. Furthermore, this work shows that by windowing off a large number of paths and weighting the rest non uniformly we can compute the required propagator. The weights used in this case are the random and exponential window functions, wr and we respectively, which yield kwr and kwe to compare with kf. Key words: Propagator, action, path - integral, window function, free particle. (Global Journal of Pure and Applied Sciences: 2003 9(4): 561-566)
In 1948, Richard Feynman published the first paper on his new approach to non-relativistic quantum mechanics. Before Feynman's work there were two mathematical formulations of quantum mechanics. Schrödinger's formulation was based on PDE (the Schrödinger equation) and states representation by wave functions, so it was in the framework of analysis and differential equations. The other formulation was Heisenberg's matrix algebra. Initially, they were thought to be competing. The proponents of one claimed that the other was “ wrong. ” Within a couple of years, John von Neumann had proved that they are equivalent.\nAlthough Feynman's theory was not fundamentally new, it nonetheless offered an entirely fresh and different perspective: via a precise formulation of Bohr's correspondence principle, it made quantum mechanics similar to classical mechanics in a precise sense. In addition, Feynman's approach made it possible to explain physical experiments, and, via diagrams, link them directly to computations. What resulted was a very powerful device for computing energies and scattering amplitudes - the famous Feynman's diagrams.\nIn his formulation, Feynman aimed at representing the solution to the non-relativistic Schrödinger equation in the form of an “ average ” over histories or paths of a particle. This solution is commonly known as the Feynman path integral. It plays an important role in the theory but appears as a postulate based on intuition coming from physics rather than a justified mathematical object. This is why Feynman's vision has caught the attention of many mathematicians as well as physicists.\nThe papers of Gelfand, Cameron, and Nelson are among the first, and more substantial, attempts to supply Feynman's theory with a rigorous mathematical foundation. These attempts were followed by many others, but unfortunately all of them were not quite satisfactory. The difficulty comes from a need to define a measure on an infinite-dimensional space of continuous functions that represent all possible paths of a particle. This Feynman's measure has to produce an integral with the properties requested by Feynman. In particular, the expression for the Feynman measure has to involve the non-absolutely integrable Fresnel integrands. The non-absolute integrability of the Fresnel integrands makes the measure fail to be positive and to have the countably additive property. Thus, a well-defined measure in the case of the Feynman path integral does not exist.\nExtensive research has been done on the methods of relating the Feynman path integral to the integral with respect to the Wiener measure. The method of analytic continuation in mass defines the Feynman path integral as a certain limit of the Wiener integrals. Unfortunately, this method can be used as definition for only almost all values of the mass parameter in the Schrödinger equation. For physicists, this is not a satisfactory result and needs to be improved.\nIn this work we examine those questions which originally led to the Feynman path integral. By now we know that Feynman's “ dream ” cannot be realized as a positive and countably additive measure on the path-space. Here, we offer a new way out by modifying Feynman's question, and thereby achieving a solution to the Schrödinger equation via a different kind of averages in the path-space.\nWe give our version of the question that Feynman “ should have asked ” in order to realize the elusive path integral. In our formulation, we get a Feynman path integral as a limit of linear functionals, as opposed to the more familiar inductive limits of positive measures, traditionally used for constructing the Wiener measure, and related Gaussian families. We adapt here an approach pioneered by Patrick Muldowney. In it, Muldowney suggested a Henstock integration technique in order to deal with the non-absolute integrability of the kind of Fresnel integrals which we need in our solution to Feynman's question. By applying Henstock's theory to Fresnel integrals, we construct a complex-valued “ probability distribution functions ” on the path-space. Then we use this “ probability ” distribution function to define the Feynman path integral as an inductive limit. This establishes a mathematically rigorous Feynman limit, and at the same time, preserves Feynman's intuitive idea in resulting functional. In addition, our definition, and our solution, do not place any restrictions on any of the parameters in the Schrödinger equation, and have a potential to offer useful computational experiments, and other theoretical insights.
As an alternative formulation of quantum mechanics, path integral is based on the notion of transition amplitude which gives the wave function of a quantum system at a time t f by acting on the wave function at an earlier time ti.We show that for a general quadratic form for the Lagrangian of the system, transition amplitude has the form f (t f -ti)e i h S class., where S class. is the classical action.We then present an algebraic method to evaluate the function f (t f -ti) without refereing to the path integral calculations.We examine the presented method to the cases of free particle and harmonic oscillator and obtain their propagators.
The path integral formulation of quantum mechanics generalizes the action principle of classical mechanics. The Feynman path integral is, roughly speaking, a sum over all possible paths that a particle can take between fixed endpoints, where each path contributes to the sum by a phase factor involving the action for the path. The resulting sum gives the probability amplitude of propagation between the two endpoints, a quantity called the propagator. Solutions of the Feynman path integral formula exist, however, only for a small number of simple systems, and modifications need to be made when dealing with more complicated systems involving singular potentials, including the Coulomb potential. We derive a generalized path integral formula, that can be used in these cases, for a quantity called the pseudo-propagator from which we obtain the fixed-energy amplitude, related to the propagator by a Fourier transform. The new path integral formula is then successfully solved for the Hydrogen atom in two and three dimensions, and we obtain integral representations for the fixed-energy amplitude.
It is shown that the complex phase of the Feynman propagator is a solution of the quantum Hamilton–Jacobi equation, namely, it is the quantum Hamilton's principal function (or quantum action). Therefore, the Feynman propagator can be computed either by means of the path integration, or by the way of the Hamilton–Jacobi equation. This is analogous to what happens in classical mechanics, where the Hamilton's principal function can be computed either by integrating the Lagrangian along the extremal paths, or as a solution of partial differential equation, namely the classical Hamilton–Jacobi equation. If the path is decomposed in the classical one and quantum fluctuations, the contribution of these quantum fluctuations satisfies a non-linear partial differential equation, whose coefficients depend on the classical action. When the contribution of the quantum fluctuations depend only on the time, it can be computed by means of a simple integration. The final results for the propagators in this case are equal to the Van Vleck–Pauli–Morette expressions, even though the two derivations are quite different. Quanta 2023; 12: 22–26.
The path integral is a powerful tool for studying quantum mechanics because it has the merit of establishing the connection between classical mechanics and quantum mechanics. This formalism quickly gained prominence in various fields of theoretical physics, including its generalization to quantum field theory, quantum mechanics, and statistical physics. Using the Feynman propagator, we can calculate the partition function, the free energy, wave functions, and the energy spectrum of the considered physical system. Moreover, the Feynman formalism finds broad applications in geophysics and in the field of financial sciences.