Generating functionals for harmonic expectation values of paths with fixed end points: Feynman diagrams for nonpolynomial interactions.
We introduce a general class of generating functionals for the calculation of quantum-mechanical expectation values of arbitrary functionals of fluctuating paths with fixed end points in configuration or momentum space. The generating functionals are calculated explicitly for the harmonic oscillator with time-dependent frequency, and used to derive a smearing formula for correlation functions of polynomial and nonpolynomial functions of time-dependent positions and momenta. This formula summarizes the effect of quantum fluctuations, and serves to derive generalized Wick rules and Feynman diagrams for perturbation expansions of nonpolynomial interactions.
Kleinert
H
H
Institut für Theoretische Physik, Freie Universität Berlin, Arnimallee 14, D-14195 Berlin, Germany.
Pelster
A
A
Bachmann
M
M