On the evaluation of the quantum corrections to periodic TDHF orbits

The evaluation of the leading order quantum correction to periodic mean-fields within the path integral approach is reinvestigated. The corresponding gaussian functional integral is well defined only after restoring the time-translation invariance broken by the time-dependent meanfield approximation. The particular structure of the action function permits one to restore the invariance in two different ways, that seem to exhibit an ambiguity in the evaluation of the leading order quantum correction. We prove, however, that both ways of restoring the time-translation invariance yield the same result, showing that the leading order quantum correction is uniquely defined within the path integral approach.