Feynman formulas and path integrals for some evolution semigroups related to τ-quantization

This note is devoted to Feynman formulas (i.e., representations of semigroups by limits of n-fold iterated integrals as n → ∞) and their connections with phase space Feynman path integrals. Some pseudodifferential operators corresponding to different types of quantization of a quadratic Hamiltonian function are considered. Lagrangian and Hamiltonian Feynman formulas for semigroups generated by these operators are obtained. Further, a construction of Hamiltonian (phase space) Feynman path integrals is introduced. Due to this construction, the Hamiltonian Feynman formulas obtained here and in our previous papers do coincide with Hamiltonian Feynman path integrals. This connects phase space Feynman path integrals with some integrals with respect to probability measures. These connections enable us to make a contribution to the theory of phase space Feynman path integrals, to prove the existence of some of these integrals, and to study their properties by means of stochastic analysis. The Feynman path integrals thus obtained are different for different types of quantization. This makes it possible to distinguish the process of quantization in the language of Feynman path integrals.     

New framework for the Feynman path integral

The well-known Fourier integral solution of the free diffusion equation in an arbitrary Euclidean space is reduced to Feynmannian integrals using the method partly contained in the formulation of the Fresnelian integral. By replacing the standard Hilbert space underlying the present mathematical formulation of the Feynman path integral by a new Hilbert space, the space of classical paths on the tangent bundle to the Euclidean space (and more general to an arbitrary Riemannian manifold) equipped with a natural inner product, we show that our Feynmannian integral is in better agreement with the qualitative features of the original Feynman path integral than the previous formulations of the integral.     

Description of spinning particle in general relativity using commuting spin variables

A general relativistic extension of a recently proposed model of spinning particle using commuting spin variables is given. The results found earlier in an approach using anticommuting (Grassmannian) variables are reproduced and extended to the case with nonzero torsion. The quantization of the model is performed via Feynman path integral and a discretization procedure is proposed leading to a covariant second-order differential equation for the propagator which in the case with zero torsion can be reduced to general relativistic Dirac equation with δ-function source.     

Spin Path Integrals and Generations

The spin of a free electron is stable but its position is not. Recent quantum information research by G. Svetlichny, J. Tolar, and G. Chadzitaskos have shown that the Feynman position path integral can be mathematically defined as a product of incompatible states; that is, as a product of mutually unbiased bases (MUBs). Since the more common use of MUBs is in finite dimensional Hilbert spaces, this raises the question “what happens when spin path integrals are computed over products of MUBs?” Such an assumption makes spin no longer stable. We show that the usual spin-1/2 is obtained in the long-time limit in three orthogonal solutions that we associate with the three elementary particle generations. We give applications to the masses of the elementary leptons.     

Of Ghosts, Gauge Volumes, and Gauss's Law

The relationship between the canonical operator and the path integral formulation of quantum electrodynamics is analyzed with a particular focus on the implementation of gauge constraints in the two approaches. The removal of gauge volumes in the path integral is shown to match with the presence of zero-norm ghost states associated with gauge transformations in the canonical operator approach. The path integrals for QED in both the Feynman and the temporal gauges are examined and several ways of implementing the gauge constraint integrations are demonstrated. The upshot is to show that both the Feynman and the temporal gauge path integrals are equivalent to the Coulomb gauge path integral, matching the results developed by Kurt Haller using the canonical formalism. In addition, the Faddeev–Popov form for the Feynman gauge and temporal gauge Lagrangian path integrals are derived from the Hamiltonian form of the path integral.     

Non-commutative chaotic expansion of Hilbert-Schmidt operators on Fock space

It is known, from a simple algebraic computation, that every Hilbert-Schmidt operator on the Fock space admits a Maassen-Meyer kernel. Maassen-Meyer kernels are a non-commutative extension of the usual notion of chaotic expansion of random variables. Using an extension of the non-commutative stochastic integrals which allows to define these integrals on the whole Fock space, we prove that a Hilbert-Schmidt operator on Fock space is the sum of a series of iterated non-commutative stochastic integrals with respect to the basic theree quantum noises. In this way we recover its Maassen-Meyer kernel which can be completely described from the operator itself.     

Wave functions relative to a real polarization

The structure of the space of wave functions in the representation given by a complete everywhere independent set of commuting observables is analyzed in the framework of geometric quantization. Under the assumptions that the chosen real polarization of the classical phase space is locally trivial and complete, it is shown that the wave functions are generalized sections of an appropriate line bundle with supports determined by generalized Bohr-Sommerfeld conditions. There is a canonical Hilbert subspace of the space of the wave functions with the scalar product defined in terms of the same expressions which appear in the generalized Bohr-Sommerfeld conditions.     

Meixner basis functions in the problem of diffraction by a disk

A basis to solve the problem of diffraction by a disk in the axisymmetric case is constructed. A set of functions that satisfy the well-known Meixner condition on an edge, admit of analytical calculation of encountered integrals, and exhibit the orthogonality property in corresponding Hilbert spaces is derived for the first time. A theory of integral equations of diffraction by a disk is developed.     

Master Equation in the General Gauge: On the Problem of Infinite Reducibility

The master equation is quantized. This is an example of quantization of a gauge theory with nilpotent generators. No ghosts are needed for the generation of a gauge algebra. The point about nilpotent generators is that one can not write down a single functional integral for this theory. Instead, one has to write down a product of two coupled functional integrals and take a square root. In a special gauge where the gauge conditions are commuting, the functional integrals decouple and one recovers the known result.     

BFV quantization on hermitian symmetric spaces

Gauge-invariant BFV approach to geometric quantization is applied to the case of hermitian symmetric spaces G/H. In particular, gauge invariant quantization on the Lobachevski plane and sphere is carried out. Due to the presence of symmetry, master equations for the first-class constraints, quantum observables and physical quantum states are exactly solvable. BFV-BRST operator defines a flat G-connection in the Fock bundle over G/H. Physical quantum states are covariantly constant sections with respect to this connection and are shown to coincide with the generalized coherent states for the group G. Vacuum expectation values of the quantum observables commuting with the quantum first-class constraints reduce to the covariant symbols of Berezin. The gauge-invariant approach to quantization on symplectic manifolds synthesizes geometric, deformation and Berezin quantization approaches.     

Time operator in QFT with Virasoro constraints

Time operator is studied on the basis of field quantization, where the difficulty stemming from Pauli?s theorem is circumvented by borrowing ideas from the covariant quantization of the bosonic string, i.e., one can remove the negative energy states by imposing Virasoro constraints. Applying the index theorem, one can show that in a different subspace of a Fock space, there is a different self-adjoint time operator. However, the self-adjoint time operator in the maximal subspace of the Fock space can also represent the self-adjoint time operator in the other subspaces, such that it can be taken as the single, universal time operator. Furthermore, a new insight on Pauli?s theorem is presented.     

Affine holomorphic quantization

We present a rigorous and functorial quantization scheme for affine field theories, i.e., field theories where local spaces of solutions are affine spaces. The target framework for the quantization is the general boundary formulation, allowing to implement manifest locality without the necessity for metric or causal background structures. The quantization combines the holomorphic version of geometric quantization for state spaces with the Feynman path integral quantization for amplitudes. We also develop an adapted notion of coherent states, discuss vacuum states, and consider observables and their Berezin–Toeplitz quantization. Moreover, we derive a factorization identity for the amplitude in the special case of a linear field theory modified by a source-like term and comment on its use as a generating functional for a generalized S$S$-matrix.     

Collision theory for waves in two dimensions and a characterization of models with trivialS-matrix

Within the framework of local relativistic quantum theory in two space-time dimensions, we develop a collision theory for waves (the set of vectors corresponding to the eigenvalue zero of the mass operator). Since among these vectors there need not be one-particle states, the asymptotic Hilbert spaces do not in general have Fock structure. However, the definition and “physical interpretation” of anS-matrix is still possible. We show that thisS-matrix is trivial if the correlations between localized operators vanish at large timelike distances.     

Periodic trajectories in the Hilbert space and generalized semi-classical bound states of many-body systems

Using a stationary phase approximation to calculate a functional integral defined on continuous overcomplete sets of vectors of the Hilbert space, one derives a generalized semi-classical quantization condition for periodic trajectories in the Hilbert space. This quantization condition is interpreted in terms of a variational principle. Application to the time dependent Hartree—Fock approximation is presented.     

Decoherence in continuous measurements: From models to phenomenology

Decoherence is the name for the complex of phenomena leading to appearance of classical features of quantum systems. In the present paper decoherence in continuous measurements is analyzed with the help of restricted path integrals (RPI) and (equivalently in simple cases) complex Hamiltonians. A continuous measurement results in a readout giving information in the classical form on the evolution of the measured quantum system. The quantum features of the system reveal themselves in the variation of possible measurement readouts. For example, the monitoring energy of a multi-level system may visualize a transition between levels as a process evolving in time but with an unavoidable quantum noise. Decoherence of a continuously measured system is completely determined by the measurement readout, i.e., by the information recorded in its environment. It is shown that the ideology of RPI makes the Feynman version of quantum mechanics closed, contrary to the conventional operator form of quantum mechanics which needs quantum theory of measurement as a necessary additional part.     

Natural star-products on symplectic manifolds and related quantum mechanical operators

In this paper is considered a problem of defining natural star-products on symplectic manifolds, admissible for quantization of classical Hamiltonian systems. First, a construction of a star-product on a cotangent bundle to an Euclidean configuration space is given with the use of a sequence of pair-wise commuting vector fields. The connection with a covariant representation of such a star-product is also presented. Then, an extension of the construction to symplectic manifolds over flat and non-flat pseudo-Riemannian configuration spaces is discussed. Finally, a coordinate free construction of related quantum mechanical operators from Hilbert space over respective configuration space is presented.     

Integrable quantum Stäckel systems

The Stäckel separability of a Hamiltonian system is well known to ensure existence of a complete set of Poisson commuting integrals of motion quadratic in the momenta. We consider a class of Stäckel separable systems where the entries of the Stäckel matrix are monomials in the separation variables. We show that the only systems in this class for which the integrals of motion arising from the Stäckel construction keep commuting after quantization are, up to natural equivalence transformations, the so-called Benenti systems. Moreover, it turns out that the latter are the only quantum separable systems in the class under study.     

Some New Developments in the Theory of Path Integrals,with Applications to Quantum Theory

A survey of recent developments concerning rigorously defined infinite dimensional integrals, mainly of the type of “Feynman path integrals,” is given. Both the theory and its applications, especially in quantum theory, are presented. As for the theory, general results are discussed including the case of polynomially growing phase functions, which are handled by exploiting the connection with probabilistic functional integrals. Also applications to continuous measurement theory and the stochastic Schrödinger equation are given. Other applications of probabilistic methods in non relativistic quantum theory and in quantum field theory, and their relations with statistical mechanics, are discussed.