Classical Mechanics and its associated Path Integral

Martin C. Gutzwiller

Philip D. Mannheim

We present a simple pedagogical discussion of the physics of path integrals in nonrelativistic quantum mechanics. Rather than show that the path integral gives the standard results of quantum mechanics, as is usually done in the literature, we instead discuss why it does so. Specifically, we discuss why the phase factor associated with each path is given by the classical action. We construct the path integral using Huygens’ principle. Finally, we show that the existence of many paths is a consequence of the spreading of the quantum-mechanical wave function.

Manu B. Paranjape

Mark S. Swanson

This paper is a generalization of previous work on the use of classical canonical transformations to evaluate Hamiltonian path integrals for quantum-mechanical systems. Relevant aspects of the Hamiltonian path integral and its measure are discussed, and used to show that the quantum-mechanical version of the classical transformation does not leave the measure of the path-integral invariant, instead inducing an anomaly. The relation to operator techniques and ordering problems is discussed, and special attention is paid to incorporation of the initial and final states of the transition element into the boundary conditions of the problem. Classical canonical transformations are developed to render an arbitrary power potential cyclic. The resulting Hamiltonian is analyzed as a quantum system to show its relation to known quantum-mechanical results. A perturbative argument is used to suppress ordering-related terms in the transformed Hamiltonian in the event that the classical canonical transformation leads to a nonquadratic cyclic Hamiltonian. The associated anomalies are analyzed to yield general methods to evaluate the path integral's prefactor for such systems. The methods are applied to several systems, including linear and quadratic potentials, the velocity-dependent potential, and the time-dependent harmonic oscillator.

Alexander Altland, Benjamin D. Simons

The aim of this chapter is to introduce the concept of the Feynman path integral. As well as developing the general construction scheme, particular emphasis is placed on establishing the interconnections between the quantum mechanical path integral, classical Hamiltonian mechanics, and classical statistical mechanics. The practice of path integration is discussed in the context of several pedagogical applications. As well as the canonical examples of a quantum particle in a single and a double potential well, we discuss the generalization of the path integral scheme to tunneling of extended objects (quantum fields), dissipative and thermally assisted quantum tunneling, and the quantum mechanical spin. In this chapter we temporarily leave the arena of many-body physics and second quantization and, at least superficially, return to single-particle quantum mechanics. By establishing the path integral approach for ordinary quantum mechanics, we will set the stage for the introduction of field integral methods for many-body theories explored in the next chapter. We will see that the path integral not only represents a gateway to higher-dimensional functional integral methods but, when viewed from an appropriate perspective, already represents a field theoretical approach in its own right. Exploiting this connection, various concepts of field theory, namely stationary phase analysis, the Euclidean formulation of field theory, instanton techniques, and the role of topology in field theory, are introduced in this chapter. The path integral: general formalism Broadly speaking, there are two approaches to the formulation of quantum mechanics: the “operator approach” based on the canonical quantization of physical observables and the associated operator algebra, and the Feynman path integral.

Michael C. Ogilvie