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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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Propagator of a Charged Particle with a Spin in Uniform Magnetic and Perpendicular Electric Fields

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Quantum Integrals of Motion for Variable Quadratic Hamiltonians

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Interaction of laser radiation with a negative ion in the presence of a strong static electric field

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Generalized Dyson series, generalized Feynman diagrams, the Feynman integral and Feynman’s operational calculus

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Quasi-adiabatic propagator path integral methods. Exact quantum rate constants for condensed phase reactions

TL;DR: In this paper, an exact quantum-mechanical methodology for calculating Boltzmann-averaged rate constants for a system coupled to a harmonic bath of arbitrary dimensionality is described.