The Feynman path integral, from the harmonic oscillator to quantum electrodynamics

Rafael Carlos Silva Tonhon

Published Jan 1, 2022• 0 citations

Abstract

The Feynman path-integral formulation of quantum mechanics is developed. The math- ematical framework is worked out from Schrödinger's equation, illustrating the compati- bility of the two formulations. We introduce the sum over all paths, known as the kernel K, and discuss its implications for events occurring in succession. We compute the kernel for quadratic Lagrangians. Then, making use of imaginary time, we consider the discrete version of the kernel, known as the Euclidean path integral, and use it to solve the (quan- tum) harmonic and anharmonic oscillators through numerical Monte Carlo simulations. Lastly, we use the framework to quantize the electromagnetic field, as a motivation to discuss perturbation theory via Feynman diagrams.

DOI: 10.11606/003118129

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