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arXiv · 1003.1156

Feynman-diagrammatic description of the asymptotics of the time evolution operator in quantum mechanics

Theo Johnson-Freyd
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Abstract

We describe the "Feynman diagram" approach to nonrelativistic quantum mechanics on R^n, with magnetic and potential terms. In particular, for each classical path γconnecting points q_0 and q_1 in time t, we define a formal power series V_γ(t,q_0,q_1) in \hbar, given combinatorially by a sum of diagrams that each represent finite-dimensional convergent integrals. We prove that exp(V_γ) satisfies Schrödinger's equation, and explain in what sense the t\to 0 limit approaches the δdistribution. As such, our construction gives explicitly the full \hbar\to 0 asymptotics of the fundamental solution to Schrödinger's equation in terms of solutions to the corresponding classical system. These results justify the heuristic expansion of Feynman's path integral in diagrams.

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Theo Johnson-Freyd. 2010-09-04. Feynman-diagrammatic description of the asymptotics of the time evolution operator in quantum mechanics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11005-010-0424-2

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