All Physics Faculty Publications
Document Type
Article
Journal/Book Title/Conference
Physical Review D
Volume
72
Issue
2
Publisher
American Physical Society
Publication Date
2005
First Page
025004-1
Last Page
025004-7
Abstract
We present a computation of the coherent state path integral for a generic linear system using "functional methods'' (as opposed to discrete time approaches). The Gaussian phase space path integral is formally given by a determinant built from a first-order differential operator with coherent state boundary conditions. We show how this determinant can be expressed in terms of the symplectic transformation generated by the (in general, time-dependent) quadratic Hamiltonian for the system. We briefly discuss the conditions under which the coherent state path integral for a linear system actually exists. A necessary -- but not sufficient -- condition for existence of the path integral is that the symplectic transformation generated by the Hamiltonian is (unitarily) implementable on the Fock space for the system.
Recommended Citation
C.G. Torre, “Coherent state path integral for linear systems,” Physical Review D, vol. 72(2), Jul. 2005, p. 025004.
http://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0503213
Comments
Originally published by the American Physical Society. Publisher's PDF available through Physical Review D - Particles, Fields, Gravitation, and Cosmology.