scispace - formally typeset
Open AccessJournal ArticleDOI

Space-Time Approach to Non-Relativistic Quantum Mechanics

Richard Phillips Feynman
- 01 Apr 1948 - 
- Vol. 20, Iss: 2, pp 367-387
Reads0
Chats0
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.

read more

Content maybe subject to copyright    Report

Citations
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI

Electron-positron pairs in physics and astrophysics: from heavy nuclei to black holes

TL;DR: In this article, a detailed review of the theoretical and experimental verification of the Dirac process and the Breit-Wheeler process is presented, together with a discussion of the possible verification of these processes.
Book

Classical field theory

Journal ArticleDOI

The action option and a Feynman quantization of spinor fields in terms of ordinary c-numbers

TL;DR: In this article, a method is presented to sum over histories for spinor fields which employs the familiar classical c-number expression for the action, predicts anti-commutation rules and Fermi statistics, and retains the invariance of the theory under a change in phase of the complex ψ field.
Journal ArticleDOI

Logical reformulation of quantum mechanics. I. Foundations

TL;DR: In this paper, the basic rules of quantum mechanics are reformulated and a proposition calculus is obtained, allowing in principle the replacement of the discussion of problems concerned with the practical interpretation of experiments by due calculations.
Journal ArticleDOI

Adsorption of Gases in Metal Organic Materials: Comparison of Simulations and Experiments

TL;DR: The volume available in a given sorbent at a specified adsorption energy (density of states) and how this density of states can be used to assess the effectiveness of a sorbent material for hydrogen storage are calculated.