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Le

ture VII 66

Le ture XVIII: Feynman Path Integral

. Motivation:
 Alternative formulation of QM ( f. anoni al quantisation)
 Close to lassi al onstru tion | i.e. semi- lassi s easily obtained
 E e tive formulation of non-perturbative approa hes
 Prototype of higher-dimensional eld theories
. Time-dependent S hr odinger equation
i~ j i = H^ j i t

X
Formal solution: j (t)i = e ^ ~ j (0)i = e iH t= iEn t=~
jnihnj (0)i
. Time-evolution operator
n

j (t0)i = U^ (t0; t)j (t)i; U^ (t0; t) = e ~ ^ ( ) (t0 t) i


H t
0
t

N.B. Causal
 Real-spa e representation:
Z
j ih j
dq q q Z
(q0; t0)  hq0j (t0)i = hq0jU^ (t0; t) ^ j (t)i = ( ; ) (q; t);
dq U q 0 ; t0 q; t

where U (q0 ; t0; q; t) = hq0je i


~H
^(
t
0
) jq i(t0
) | propagator or Green fun tion
t
t
 
i ~ t0
^ U (t0 t) = i~Æ(t0 t)
H

N.B.  (t0 t) = Æ(t0 t) t0

Physi ally: U (q0 ; t0; q; t) des ribes probability amplitude for parti le to propagate
from q at time t to q0 at time t0
. Constru tion of Path Integral

Feynman's idea: divide time evolution into N ! 1 dis rete time steps t = t=N
^ h ^  ~i
=
N
~
e iH t=
e iH t=

Then separate the operator ontent so that momentum operators stand to the left
and position operators to the right

e
^
iH t= ~
=e iT ^ t= ~
e
^
iV t= ~
+ O(t2 )

Le ture Notes O tober 2004


Le ture VII 67

h ^  ~i
hq j e jq i
N
iH t=
F I

' hq j^e ^ ~ e F
iT t= ^
iV t=~
^e
^
iT t= ~
e iV^
^ : : : ^e
^  ~ e ^  ~ jq i
t= ~ iT t= iV t=
I

Z Z
Insert at ^ resol. of id: = dqn dpn jq ihq jp ihp j, and using hqjpi = p 1 eiqp=~ ,
n n n n
2 ~
e
^
iV t=~
jq ihq jp ihp je ^ ~ = jq ie ( ) ~ hq jp ie
iT t= iV q t= ( )
iT p t= ~
hp j ;
hp +1jq ihq jp i = 21~ exp [iq (p p +1)℄
n n n n n n n n

and n n n n n n n

" #
^
Z Y1 N
Y N
X1 
N
qn+1
hq j e
F
iHt= ~
jq i =
I dqn
2 ~
exp
dpn i
~
t V qn ( ) + T (p +1) n pn+1
t
qn
n=1
qN =qF ;q0 =qI
n =1 n =0

p Phase
Space

tn t
qF 1 2 N

qI

i.e. at ea h time step, integration over the lassi al phase spa e oords. x  (q ; p ) n n n

Contributions from traje tories where (q +1 q )p +1 > ~ are negligible


motivates ontinuum limit
n n n

Z Z
D (q; p)
t

dt0
( )= (0)= pq_j =
z }| { z 0}| { H ( xj = )
q t qF ;q qI

Z Y1 h i 1 z }| { t0 tn

X z }| { q +1 q i
t0
Y dp
tn

^
N N N

hq j e
F
~
iHt=
jq i = I dq
2 ~
exp ~ t (V (q ) + T (p +1) p +1 t )
n
n
n n n
n n

=1 n=1
qN =qF ;q0 =qI
=0 n n

Propagator expressed as fun tional integral:


Hamiltonian formulation of Feynman Path Integral
z A tion
}| {
Z hi Z z
Lagrangian
}| {i
hq j e ^ ~
jq i = iH t=
D (q; p) exp dt0 (pq_ H (p; q ))
t

F I
~ q t ( )= qF ;q (0)= qI 0
Le ture Notes O tober 2004
Le ture VII 68

Quantum transition amplitude expressed as sum over all possible phase spa e
traje tories (subje t to appropriate b. .s) and weighted by lassi al a tion
. Lagrangian formulation: for \free-parti le" Hamiltonian H (p; q) = p2=2m + V (q)
z
Gaussian integral
}|
on p {
Z Z  Z  2 
^ jq i =
R
Dp exp
2m pq_
( ~) ( ) i p t

hq j e
F
~
iHt=
I Dqe
~
i=
dt0 t
0 dt V
0
q

( )=
q t qF ;q (0)= qI 0

p0
2
_ 7! 21m (p 1 mq_2
p2 z }| {
mq_)2
2m pq
2
Fun tional integral justi ed by dis retisation

Z  Z  
hq j e ^ ~
jq i = exp i t

dt0
_
mq 2
()
Dq
2 V q
iHt=
F I
q t( )= qF ;q (0)= qI
~ 0

  2 Y1
N= N

e =
Dq ! Dq lim Nm
N !1 2
it  ~
n =1
dqn

Le ture Notes O tober 2004

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