Related papers: Path integral and particle ontology
There is debate as to whether quantum field theory is, at bottom, a quantum theory of fields or particles. One can take a field approach to the theory, using wave functionals over field configurations, or a particle approach, using wave…
Relativistic generalization of Path Integral Monte-Carlo method has been proposed and some possible applications have been discussed.
For description of the quantum dynamics on a curved group manifold the path integrals in a space of the group parameters is offered. The formalism is illustrated by the $H$-atom problem.
The path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, i.e., the idea that the evolution of a quantum system is determined as a sum over all the possible trajectories that would take the system from the initial to its final state of its…
Practically measurable quantities resulting from quantum field theory are not described by hermitian operators, contradicting one of the cornerstone axioms of orthodox quantum theory. This could be a sign that some of the axioms of orthodox…
The path integral approach to quantum mechanics provides a method of quantization of dynamical systems directly from the Lagrange formalism. In field theory the method presents some advantages over Hamiltonian quantization. The Lagrange…
In this paper, epistemology and ontology of quantum states are discussed based on a completely new way of founding quantum theory. The fundamental notions are conceptual variables in the mind of an observer or in the joint minds of a group…
It is shown that neither the wave picture nor the ordinary particle picture offers a satisfactory explanation of the double-slit experiment. The Physicists who have been successful in formulating theories in the Newtonian Paradigm with its…
Starting from the canonical formalism of relativistic (timeless) quantum mechanics, the formulation of timeless path integral is rigorously derived. The transition amplitude is reformulated as the sum, or functional integral, over all…
Path integrals represent a powerful route to quantization: they calculate probabilities by summing over classical configurations of variables such as fields, assigning each configuration a phase equal to the action of that configuration.…
What ontology does realism about the quantum state suggest? The main extant view in contemporary philosophy of physics is wave-function realism. We elaborate the sense in which wave-function realism does provide an ontological picture; and…
Quantum tunneling is considered from the point of view of local realism. It is concluded that a quantum object tunneling through a potential barrier cannot be interpreted as a point-like particle because such an interpretation generates a…
These lectures are intended as an introduction to the technique of path integrals and their applications in physics. The audience is mainly first-year graduate students, and it is assumed that the reader has a good foundation in quantum…
In quantum field theory the path integral is usually formulated in the wave picture, i.e., as a sum over field evolutions. This path integral is difficult to define rigorously because of analytic problems whose resolution may ultimately…
A path integration formulation for the finite density and temperature problems is shown to be consistent with the thermodynamics using an 8 component ``real'' representation for the fermion fields by applying it to a free fermion system. A…
A general formulation of classical relativistic particle mechanics is presented, with an emphasis on the fact that superluminal velocities and nonlocal interactions are compatible with relativity. Then a manifestly relativistic-covariant…
Relativistic, scalar particles are considered, contained in a box with periodic boundary conditions. Although interactions are not expected to be a fundamental problem, we concentrate on free particles. By considering them to be harmonic…
Path integrals for particles in curved spaces can be used to compute trace anomalies in quantum field theories, and more generally to study properties of quantum fields coupled to gravity in first quantization. While their construction in…
Quantum theory describes our universe incredibly successfully. To our classically-inclined brains, however, it is a bizarre description that requires a re-imagining of what fundamental reality, or "ontology", could look like. This thesis…
A probabilistic interpretation of one-particle relativistic quantum mechanics is proposed. Quantum Action Principle formulated earlier is used for to make the dynamics of the Minkowsky time variable of a particle to be classical. After…