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4 - The Path Integral Formulation of Quantum Mechanics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 December 2021

Marcos Mariño
Marcos Mariño
Affiliation:
Université de Genève
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Summary

This chapter presents Feynman’s formulation of quantum mechanics, based on a path integral representation of the evolution operator. The chapter presents detailed examples which make it possible to understand clearly Feynman’s “sum over paths,” and it contains a complete discussion of how to calculate Gaussian path integrals. It also discusses the Euclidean version of the path integral, as well as Wick’s theorem and Feynman diagrams. Finally, it discusses instantons in quantum mechanics.

Keywords

Feynman path integralEuclidean path integralGaussian path integralfunctional determinantsWick’s theoremFeynman diagramsinstantons
Type
Chapter
Information
Advanced Topics in Quantum Mechanics , pp. 159 - 206
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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