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Open AccessJournal ArticleDOI

Space-Time Approach to Non-Relativistic Quantum Mechanics

Richard Phillips Feynman
- 01 Apr 1948 - 
- Vol. 20, Iss: 2, pp 367-387
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TLDR
In this paper, the authors formulated non-relativistic quantum mechanics in a different way and showed that the probability of an event which can happen in several different ways is the absolute square of a sum of complex contributions, one from each alternative way.
Abstract
Non-relativistic quantum mechanics is formulated here in a different way. It is, however, mathematically equivalent to the familiar formulation. In quantum mechanics the probability of an event which can happen in several different ways is the absolute square of a sum of complex contributions, one from each alternative way. The probability that a particle will be found to have a path x(t) lying somewhere within a region of space time is the square of a sum of contributions, one from each path in the region. The contribution from a single path is postulated to be an exponential whose (imaginary) phase is the classical action (in units of ℏ) for the path in question. The total contribution from all paths reaching x, t from the past is the wave function ψ(x, t). This is shown to satisfy Schroedinger's equation. The relation to matrix and operator algebra is discussed. Applications are indicated, in particular to eliminate the coordinates of the field oscillators from the equations of quantum electrodynamics.

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Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI

Constructing tensor network influence functionals for general quantum dynamics

TL;DR: In this paper, an iterative formalism was proposed to compute influence functionals that describe the general quantum dynamics of a subsystem beyond the assumption of linear coupling to a quadratic bath.
Journal ArticleDOI

Perturbation Methods in Stochastic Wave Propagation

Pao Liu Chow
- 01 Jan 1975 - 
TL;DR: In this article, several methods of approximation applicable to problems in wave propagation governed by a three-dimensional random reduced wave equation are presented within the framework of perturbation theory for moderate wave numbers.
Journal ArticleDOI

Wiener path integrals and multi-dimensional global bases for non-stationary stochastic response determination of structural systems

TL;DR: In contrast to earlier implementations of the WPI technique, the herein developed generalization and enhancement circumvents computationally daunting brute-force discretizations of the time domain in cases where the objective is to determine the complete time-dependent non-stationary response PDF.
Book ChapterDOI

Chapter 6 Spectral Methods in Derivatives Pricing

TL;DR: In this article, the authors study the problem of valuing a (possibly defaultable) derivative asset contingent on the underlying economic state modeled as a Markov process, and apply the spectral representation theorem to obtain spectral representations for the semigroup and value functions of derivative assets.
Journal ArticleDOI

Decoherence in an anharmonic oscillator coupled to a thermal environment: a semiclassical forward-backward approach.

TL;DR: The decoherence of an anharmonic oscillator in a thermal harmonic bath is examined via a semiclassical approach and it is found that the dephasing dynamics can be described as an initial Zeno-effect regime, followed by a Caldeira-Leggett region followed by recurrences.