Quantum Field Formalism for the Electromagnetic Interaction of Composite Particles in a Nonrelativistic Gauge Model

A classical nonrelativistic U(1) × U(1) gauge field model for the electromagnetic interaction of composite particles is proposed and the quantum formalism is constructed. This gauge model containing a Chern–Simons U(1) field and the electromagnetic U(1) field can be coupled to both a bosonic or a fermionic matter field. We explicitly consider the second case, a composite fermion system in the presence of an electromagnetic field, and we carry out the canonical quantization by the Dirac method. The path integral approach is developed and the Feynman rules are established. A simplified model is considered. As an alternative path integral method, the BRST formalism for this gauge model is also treated.     

Incompatibility of gauge invariance and nonrelativistic locality in path integral formulation

It is shown that a modification of the usual gauge transformations is essential to the path integral formulation of nonrelativistic quantum mechanics as a consequence of defining the locality condition as follows: The contribution from each path comes entirely from the points on the path. Arguments are based on the similarity between Wiener and Feynman functional (path) integrals.     

Feynman quantization: An operator approach to path integration over commuting and anticommuting variables

We present an operator quantization scheme on a continuous direct product of Hilbert spaces over a time interval as an extension of the quantization using Feynman path integrals. We define the continuous direct product as a Hilbert space with two principal bases: the Fock and the Feynman ones. The Fock basis, defined by a complete set of commuting operators at different times, serves for a definition of the operator calculus. The Feynman basis, simultaneously diagonalizing the complete set of commuting operators, leads to path integrals constructed without time slicing as a spectral representation of certain operator functions. The construction of quantum theory and the corresponding path integrals for the harmonic oscillator is demonstrated both in the configuration and phase spaces. The extension of the theory to coherent states and anticommuting variables is performed.     

Relativistic quantum mechanics of supersymmetric particles

The quantum mechanics of an electron in an external field is developed by Hamiltonian path integral methods. The electron is described classically by an action which is invariant under gauge supersymmetry transformations as well as worldline reparametrizations. The simpler case of a spinless particle is first reviewed and it is pointed out that a strictly canonical approach does not exist. This follows formally from the gauge invariance properties of the action and physically it corresponds to the fact that particles can travel backwards as well as forward in coordinate time. However, appropriate application of path integral techniques yields directly the proper time representation of the Feynman propagator. Next we extend the formalism to systems described by anticommuting variables. This problem presents some difficulty when the dimension of the phase space is odd, because the holomorphic representation does not exist. It is shown, however, that the usual connection between the evolution operator and the path integral still holds provided one indludes in the action the boundary term that makes the classical variational principle well defined. The path integral for the relativistic spinning particle is then evaluated and it is shown to lead directly to a representation for the Feynman propagator in terms of two proper times, one commuting, the other anticommuting, which appear in a symmetric manner. This representation is used to derive scattering amplitudes in an external field. In this step the anticommuting proper time is integrated away and the analysis is carried in terms of one (commuting) proper time only, just as in the spinless case. Finally, some properties of the quantum mechanics of the ghost particles that appear in the path integral for constrained systems are developed in an appendix.     

Infinite-dimensional evolution equations and the representation of their solutions in the form of feynman integrals

In the paper, existence conditions for Feynman integrals in the sense of analytic continuation of Gaussian integrals with respect to operator arguments are found. A representation of Feynman integrals in the form of Gaussian integrals is also constructed and, finally, the class of evolution equations having solutions representable by Feynman integrals is described.     

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.     

Two-loop quark self-energy in a new formalism (I) Overlapping divergences

A new integration technique for multi-loop Feynman integrals, called the matrix method, is developed and then applied to the divergent part of the overlapping two-loop quark self-energy function iΣ in the light-cone gauge n · A^a(x) = 0, n² = 0. It is shown that the coefficient of the double-pole term is strictly local, even off mass-shell, while the coefficient of the single-pole term contains local as well as nonlocal parts. On mass-shell, the single-pole part is local, of course. It is worth noting that the original overlapping self-energy integral reduces eventually to 10 covariant and 38 noncovariant-gauge integrals. We were able to verify explicitly that the divergent parts of the 10 double covariant-gauge integrals agreed precisely with those currently used to calculate radiative corrections in the Standard Model.

Our new technique is amazingly powerful, being applicable to massive and massless integrals alike, and capable of handling both covariant-gauge integrals and the more difficult noncovariant-gauge integrals. Perhaps the most important feature of the matrix method is the ability to execute the 4ω-dimensional momentum integrations in a single operation, exactly and in analytic form. The method works equally well for other axial-type gauges, notably the temporal gauge (n² > 0) and the pure axial gauge (n² < 0).     

Particle picture in external fields,quantum holonomy,and gauge anomaly

We formulate a path integral of chiral gauge theories by means of the canonical quantization of fermions in time-dependent background gauge fields. The expression of the path integral is composed of two parts. One is due to the nontrivial holonomy of the fermionic Fock vacua and the other is the conventional form which is used in the perturbation theory. The nontrivial holonomy part is expected to be a nonlocal counter term. We show a possibility of the perturbative calculation     

The quantum geometry of spin and statistics

Both, spin and statistics of a quantum system can be seen to arise from underlying (quantum) group symmetries. We show that the spin–statistics theorem is equivalent to a unification of these symmetries. Besides covering the Bose–Fermi case we classify the corresponding possibilities for anyonic spin and statistics. We incorporate the underlying extended concept of symmetry into quantum field theory in a generalised path integral formulation capable of handling general braid statistics. For bosons and fermions the different path integrals and Feynman rules naturally emerge without introducing Grassmann variables. We also consider the anyonic example of quons and obtain the path integral counterpart to the usual canonical approach.     

Ward Identities in CP1 Nonlinear σ Model with Maxwell – Chern – Simons Term

In (2+1) space-time dimensions, CP¹ nonlinear σ model with Maxwell–Chern–Simons (MCS) term is studied by Ward identities. Firstly we revised, in the Coulomb gauge, the system is quantized in Faddeev–Senjanovic (FS) path integral quantization formalism. The canonical Ward identities are then given. Based on the Ward identities, the relations of the generating functional of proper vertex can be derived, and be expressed in Feynman rules with one-loop graphs.     

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.     

Canonical quantization and chromodynamics in a spherical cavity

The canonical quantization formalism is applied to the Lagrange density of chromodynamics, which includes gauge fixing and Faddeev-Popov ghost terms in a general covariant gauge. We develop the quantum theory of the interacting fields in the Dirac picture, based on the Gell-Mann and Low theorem and the Dyson expansion of the time evolution operator. The physical states are characterized by their invariance under Becchi-Rouet-Stora transformations. Subsequently, confinement is introduced phenomenologically by imposing, on the quark, gluon, and ghost field operators, the linear boundary conditions of the MIT bag model at the surface of a spherically symmetric and static cavity. Based on this formalism, we calculate, in the Feynman gauge, all nondivergent Feynman diagrams of second order in the strong coupling constantg. Explicit values of the matrix elements are given for low-lying quark and gluon cavity modes.     

Rules for integrals over products of distributions from coordinate independence of path integrals

In perturbative calculations of quantum-mechanical path integrals in curvilinear coordinates, one encounters Feynman diagrams involving multiple temporal integrals over products of distributions which are mathematically undefined. In addition, there are terms proportional to powers of Dirac -functions at the origin coming from the measure of path integration. We derive simple rules for dealing with such singular terms from the natural requirement of coordinate independence of the path integrals. Received: 12 December 2000 / Revised version: 16 January 2001 / Published online: 6 April 2001     

Path integral and effective Hamiltonian in loop quantum cosmology

We study the path integral formulation of Friedmann universe filled with a massless scalar field in loop quantum cosmology. All the isotropic models of $k=0,+1,-1$ are considered. To construct the path integrals in the timeless framework, a multiple group-averaging approach is proposed. Meanwhile, since the transition amplitude in the deparameterized framework can be expressed in terms of group-averaging, the path integrals can be formulated for both deparameterized and timeless frameworks. Their relation is clarified. It turns out that the effective Hamiltonian derived from the path integral in deparameterized framework is equivalent to the effective Hamiltonian constraint derived from the path integral in timeless framework, since they lead to same equations of motion. Moreover, the effective Hamiltonian constraints of above models derived in canonical theory are confirmed by the path integral formulation.     

Feynman rules for Coulomb gauge QCD

The Coulomb gauge in nonabelian gauge theories is attractive in principle, but beset with technical difficulties in perturbation theory. In addition to ordinary Feynman integrals, there are, at 2-loop order, Christ–Lee (CL) terms, derived either by correctly ordering the operators in the Hamiltonian, or by resolving ambiguous Feynman integrals. Renormalization theory depends on the sub-graph structure of ordinary Feynman graphs. The CL terms do not have a sub-graph structure. We show how to carry out renormalization in the presence of CL terms, by re-expressing these as ‘pseudo-Feynman’ integrals. We also explain how energy divergences cancel.     

Quantum Field Formalism for the Electromagnetic Interaction of Composite Particles in a Nonrelativistic Gauge Model III

A classical nonrelativistic U(1)×U(1) gauge field model that describes the topologically massive electromagnetic interaction of composite particles in (2+1) dimensions is proposed. The model, generalization of a previously postulated one, contains a Chern-Simons U(1) field and the topologically massive electromagnetic U(1) field, and it uses both a composite boson system or a composite fermion one. The second case is considered explicitly. By using the Dirac Hamiltonian method for constrained systems, the canonical quantization is carried out. By means of the Faddeev-Senjanovic formalism, the path integral quantization is developed. Consequently, the Feynman rules are established and the diagrammatic structure is treated. The application of the Becchi-Rouet-Stora-Tyutin algorithm is discussed. The present and previous models are compared.     

Quantum Field Formalism for the Electromagnetic Interaction of Composite Particles in a Nonrelativistic Gauge Model II

By generalizing a model previously proposed, a classical nonrelativistic U(1)×U(1) gauge field model for the electromagnetic interaction of composite particles in (2+1) dimensions is constructed. The model contains a Chern–Simons U(1) field and the electromagnetic U(1) field, and it describes both a composite boson system or a composite fermion one. The second case is considered explicitly. The model includes a topological mass term for the electromagnetic field and interaction terms between the gauge fields. By following the Dirac Hamiltonian formalism for constrained systems, the canonical quantization for the model is realized. By developing the path integral quantization method through the Faddeev–Senjanovic algorithm, the Feynman rules of the model are established and its diagrammatic structure is discussed. The Becchi–Rouet–Stora–Tyutin formalism is applied to the model. The obtained results are compared with the ones corresponding to the previous model.