Path integrals and the WKB approximation Barry R. Holstein and Arthur R. Swift Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003 (Received 13 February 1981; accepted for publication 15 September 1981) ‘The WKB approximation is demonstrated to be formally identical tothe semiclassical limit of the ‘Feynman path integral propagator. In the limit that the path integral propagator is dominated by the classical particle trajectory, it is identical to the propagator calculated directly from WKB ‘wave functions in the stationary phase approximation. INTRODUCTION The path integral approach to quantum mechanics has proved to be an extraordinarily useful technique in modern applications of quantum field theory. However, except for the pioneering text of Feynman and Hibbs,' the subject of path integrals is noticeably absent from standard quantum mechanics textbooks.” Students are not only missing a top- ic important for its applications in field theory but they are also missing an approach to standard quantum mechanics which forms a useful basis for the development of approxi- mation methods. For example, there are a number of pa- pers which derive the Bohr-Sommerfeld quantization rules for bound-state energy levels from path integrals.’ Since the standard derivation of those rules is based upon the WKB semiclassical approximation to the Schrédinger ‘equation, one is led to look for a close relationship between the WKB method and a suitable approximation to the path tegral, In this paper we establish the formal identity of the stan- dard WKB method and the path integral formalism in the limit where the path integral is dominated by the trajectory of a classical particle moving under the influence of a one- dimensional potential V(x). The proof demonstrates that the path integral propagator is identical to that obtained directly from WKB wave functions. It is understood that all integrals are done in the stationary phase approxima- tion. We first repeat the standard derivation of the path integral propagator and then show that the identical propa- gator is derivable from WKB wave functions. In the Ap- pendix we describe the calculation of the quadratic corree- tions to the path integral propagator. Once the identity ofthe path integral and WKB appro: mations has been extablished, there is the possibilty of riving all WKB results without resorting to the complics tions inherent in deriving and applying the WKB connection formulas. The derivation of the Bohr-Sommer- feld quantization rules is one such application,> and in a subsequent paper we show that barrier penetration prob- Jems can also be handled directly in the path integral for- malism. II, PATH INTEGRAL PROPAGATOR The basic result we shall employ is that the amplitude for 1 particle of mass m 10 propagate between space-time points (x,,t,] and (x,y) is given by! Ueatasttal = (xale“Me—Mix,) Jotanesenn, 0) ‘The first form—(1,lexp{ — iH (t, — t)/Ax,)—is the usu 829 Am. J. Phys. 509), Sept. 1982 al quantum-mechanical expression for the propagator of a particle moving under the influence of a Hamiltonian H. ‘The defining property of the propagator is that it describes the evolution of a wave function in space and time: Hat) = fds, Dixatcrnt vbevt e@ ‘The second form for D (xz) is the path integral for- mulation. Its detailed justification appears in the book by Feynman and Hibbs." The notation fotxen 6) implies a summation overall paths x(t), which start atx, at time f, and end at x, at time f,. The only condition on the paths is that they are single valued—for a given t there is only one value of x. Each path x(t) is weighted by a phase factor determined by the classical action S associated with this path: stay) = [ae tums? — vote. (4) In general, of course, itis no more possible to sum over the nondenumerable set of paths than itis to exactly solve the ‘Schrédinger equation. As is well known, however, itis pos- sible to do the calculation exactly for a free particle by breaking up the time interval into finite steps of At = ¢, and integrating over all x at each 1.' The exact free-particle propagator so calculated agrees with the standard form ‘based on wave functions. ‘The peculiar thing about the path integral formulation is that ail paths must be included. On the other hand, in the classical limit the trajectory x,(t) determined by mitalt}= — Veale) (3) with the boundary conditions x4(6)) =x a(t) =x» ‘must be the only relevant path. Only for such a path does it ‘make sense to speak of the energy of a particle, since from Eq. (5), 4 yes? 7 Gln + Va] = Samia + VBA] (6) Hence: dni + Vie) = Ey a where £'is constant along the path. The energy Eis a func- tion of x2.X yf, defined via non [Gea ®) For any path other than x,,(t) the classical Hamiltonian mi?/2+ V(x) is not constant. © 1982 American Association of Physics Teachers 829The classical limit is obtained in the limit +0. For ‘small # the phase of the exponential gs ba), 9) changes extremely rapidly for even a small change in path x(t). Thus in the integration over all paths the rapid change of phase will tend to wash out contributions from all paths except those along which the action is stationary—ic., paths 3(¢) for which S(%+6x] —5[3]=0, (10) for all 5x. But, S1¥ 45x) -S13) fami +50 (VG + 8x) — VRNar =f de (mbt — V'G6x) (1 Since all paths start at x, and end at x,, &x(t,) = dx) = 0. Integrating by parts, we find then — [ drdx(mi + 7). (12) Inorder that this vanish for arbitrary 5x, itis necessary that me = — VR), (13) or X(t) = xa(t)theclassical path. Classical paths are points of stationary phase in the path integral and as such domi- nate the integral in the small limit If fis small, so that the classical path dominates the path integral, itis necessary to keep only small deviations from 2, inthe path integral and work to quadratic order in 5x: S[¥+5x] -S1F 5 [sy +B] oS [x] + ff mb — 7s ‘ (14) (The linear terms vanish by Eq. (13). In this approximation the path integral form of the propagator becomes Dirstatut)= [D toxene”™ 0°) (13) =e fox xeap f “de[mbx? — V"(e\5x"] " (as) ‘The propagator is given by the classical phase times path integral for a particle of mass m traveling in the potential V(x, (¢))x2/2. Note that the potential is a function of time ‘through its dependence on x,,(t). There are a variety of ‘methods for evaluating the remaining path integral. In the ‘Appendix we present one method. The result is an expres- sion for D (x2,t;%,,t,) that should be valid in the limit 4-0: ws (ame "dx \- D (ene ikea &) + 16) where A(x) (/#i} {2m[E, — V(x)]}"? (17) nd E., is the energy defined implicitly by Eq. (8) If the potential has the form V(x)=Va + mgx + ma*x"/2, the approximate form for Dis actual- ly exact since V(x.) is constant and there are no addi- tional approximations involved in going from Eq. (15) to 830 Am.J. Phys, Vol. 0, No.9, September 1982 Eq, (16). For a general potential we have Stu) = [defame — Pes] =a [mid — Ey] = —Ey(,-t) + [detampey — ving”. (as) ‘The semiclassical approximation for the propagator is D= (2k oie tsaf ) xen! [eisds— Lee — ni). (19) ‘The phase factor in Eq, (19) is suggestive of the exponential factors appearing in WKB wave functions which are also supposed to accurately describe the physics of a quantum system in the limit #0. IIL WKB PROPAGATOR ‘An alternate calculation of the propagator starts with the first form in Eq. (I). Insertion of a complete set of ener- By eigenstates jn) leads to DxatysX ut) = (aye MO "| = Deqln)dnixye SH" = Dabeabttaye (20) where H\n) =E,|n) (21) In the WKB approximation the energy eigenstates in the classically allowed region are* ; ; dale) = — ex aif ax a) eo Teal” off (22) where q is an arbitrary parameter and gle) = (1/89 (2m E, — Vx)] 11 (23) Each WKB wave function has a continuation into classi- cally forbidden regions; the precise form of that continu- ation is irrelevant here. In the absence of bound states the energy spectrum is continuous and p= [ae sie Wels wrinie ina - HELL os roel “kn. 2) itm Me, (24) ‘The sum overe = + | takes into account the two-fold de- sgeneracy in energy states. The measure (E )is independent of x and is fixed by the requirement Fim D (ast: hs) = Bb%2 — a), (25) which follows from the equal time limit of Eq. (2). Since ‘UE )is independent of position, we may choose x, and x, in B. Holstein and A. Swift 830,a region where the potential vanishes and tmp = 3 [det Flaon fe |Blrerer~ ay -f dk |Abreen- ix. xy). (26) We find . fe) LAS 7) surning to Eq. (24), we evaluate the integral in the stationary phase approximation.’ In general this approxi- ‘mation means that, r= [7 avanee PAI es maixyet™[ deete Qai_\'? eee 7 a3) lle” (Gm) (28) where xis the stationary phase point fixed by A (xq) = 0.In our enss ef* 12 hE) $f astome— rien EA/h and He Ate (=) 0. (29) ae Ss, \2TE— Me Only one sign of € contributes. If we assume x2>%,, €= + Land Eis determined by o- [era ” In other words, E = E.,. Out of all the continuum of ener- gies in the integral in Eq, (24), the classical path energy dominates. Since mde Je, Tame Poy? =~ de --F( en we have from Eqs. (24) and (28): m i m= (* dx\'? In eer! In o) xemn( = ity AE “klsids), (32) a result identical to Eq, (19). Thus WKB used in a station- ary phase approximation is the same as the path integral plus dominance by the classical trajectory. All problems which can be formulated in terms of the propagator func- tion should have the same solutions when analyzed by ei- ther approach. The semiclassical approximation to the Feynman path integral is entirely equivalent to the WKB approximation to the Schrédinger equation. The relationship between the two techniques can be further elucidated by investigating how a WKB wave func- tion propagates in time when D (x,,f,2¢,f,) is given by Eq, 831 Am.J.Phys., Vol. $0, No.9, September 1982 (19). tis obvious from Eq, (20) where D is written in terms ‘of WKB wave functions, that the result of using a WKB ‘wave function in Eq. (2) is a WKB wave function at x,/,. However, itis useful to do the calculation directly since we then learn the correct and consistent method for evaluating integrals over the propagator function. According to Eq, 2, Hot) = [des Dosotasutst) = [7 an (2nicesnbina[ ) J Kah) xen wero( if kone gar xexo( [eis - ‘i /A), (33) Actually this expression is incorrect insofar as there are regions of x, space in which a particle of energy Fis classi- cally forbidden to exist. However, in the stationary phase approximation those values of x, do not contribute. Note that in Eq, (33), #ikolx) = (2mlE, — V ell}, where Epis the energy of the WKB wave function. On the other hand, Ak (x) = [2m[E— Veil)", where E = E (x,xsAt) is a function of x, the integration variable. The stationary phase approximation in x, requires that we first find the point x, = ¥, such that E(- 20+ Pome Pix) dx + [ lami, — res)" de — Ets) an “2m ya ox, wae) (5) as = [2m{E— ¥)}"? + [2m{B>— V)I"" = [2m(E, — V)]'"? — [2m(E — V))"?. (34) ‘Thetwo terms in JE /Ax, cancel according to Eq. (8) which defines E (x,,x,,At). The stationary point, is that value of 21 for which E= Eq(k,XpAt) = Ey. (35) ‘The stationary phase approximation to Eq. (33) is ele — Pot Fi et) Tae exo( ie +1 "einix), (36) where r= (onikee {" i)" (Gye Ome ye — = [2m(E— vy)" ) ” (37) However, 4 _yypee yyy Fey mB — VIN — Cam — VID, (38) From the defining Equation (8) for E, we see that B Holstein and A. Swift 831,9) Some ta) G Hence, beac “eal ~ ag) aml) |) a ‘Thus when the path integral propagator is used in the sta- tionary phase approximation, the WKB wave function propagates into a WKB wave function ata later time. IV. CONCLUSION We have seen then that in the limit #0, the Feynman path integral form of the propagator depends only on the classical path. In the semiclassical limit, where #t is small bbut nonzero, we have calculated quadratic corrections about the classical path and have shown that the resulting form of the propagator is identical to that obtained using a sum over WKB wave functions when the sum (integral) is performed in the stationary phase approximation. We con- clude then that all problems amenable to solution by WKB methods should be equally soluble by path integral techni- ‘ques, provided they can be formulated in terms of the Feyn- ‘man propagator. A classic example of this is the problem of barrier penetration, which is generally treated by matching WKB wave functions at the turning points. We demon- strate in a subsequent paper how this can be treated in a path integral formalism. ACKNOWLEDGMENT Supported in part by the National Science Foundation. APPENDIX In order to complete the derivation of the stationary phase approximation to the path integral form of the Feyn- ‘man propagator, as discussed in the text, we need to evalu- ate the path integral o= [atest [ex (2) aatmasir — ts) } (Al) ‘Coleman in his lectures on instantons® shows that up to a normalization factor = Me)", (a2) where mb + V"alb=0, (a3) 832 -Am.J. Phys, Vol. 50, No.9, September 1982 and ys subject to the boundary conditions d aey=0, Em (a4) Introducing u(t | = x, we note that according to Eq. (5), mv = — V"(x.)o. {A5) Thus a, Sob — i) =0 (a6) or wb — bv =o), (a7) where the integration constant is fixed by the boundary conditions. ‘Since Eq, (A7) is equivalent to v(t) 4 2(2) = we, (as) we find = a (storitaf 45) (a9) In terms of k = mv/fi = {2m[E— V(x))}"7/4i dx \-"2 ow (kiskioaf (« Ss) (A190) The integration variable was changed to x with dt = dx/x. ‘Thenormalization constant Nisindependent of the poten- tial function. It is fixed by comparison with the exact free- particle propagator (Goan zl) e k ata) ar (« coats) be —x,) and ° (aries fA i) , the result used in Eq. (16). * ian) {A12) °R, Feynman and A. Hibbs, Quantum Mechanis and Path Integrals (McGraw Hil, New York, 1965) ‘Standard texbooks like L. Schit, Quontum Mechanics, 3rd ed, (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1968) and E. Merzbacher, Quantum Me- chanics, 2nd ed. (Wiley, New York, 1970] make no mention of path integrals. Thereisa short section on thesubjectin R. Shankar, Princ: ples of Quantum Mechanics Plenum, New York, 1980), AR. Dashen, B. Hasslacher, and A. Neveu, Phys. Rev. D 10, 4116 (1974) R- Rajaraman, Phys. Rep. 21C, 27 (1975), +E, Merabacher, Quantum Mechanics, 2nd ed. (Wiley, New York, 1970), Chap. 7. "The stationary phase method of approximating an integral isthe ana- lytic continuation of the method of steepest decent P. Morse and H. Feshbach, Methods of Theoretical Physics (MeGraw-Hil, New York, 1933, Coleman, in The Whys of Subnuclear Physics, edited by A Zichichi (Plenum, New York, 1979), . 805 B. Holstein and A. Swift 832