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The path integral formulation is a description in quantum mechanics that generalizes the stationary action principle of classical mechanics.It replaces the classical notion of a single, unique classical trajectory for a system with a sum, or functional integral, over an infinity of quantum-mechanically possible trajectories to compute a quantum amplitude.
Path integration. Path integration sums the vectors of distance and direction traveled from a start point to estimate current position, and so the path back to the start. Path integration is the method thought to be used by animals for dead reckoning.
In mathematics, a line integral is an integral where the function to be integrated is evaluated along a curve. [1] The terms path integral, curve integral, and curvilinear integral are also used; contour integral is used as well, although that is typically reserved for line integrals in the complex plane. The function to be integrated may be a ...
In the mathematical field of complex analysis, contour integration is a method of evaluating certain integrals along paths in the complex plane. [1][2][3] Contour integration is closely related to the calculus of residues, [4] a method of complex analysis. One use for contour integrals is the evaluation of integrals along the real line that are ...
Path integral Monte Carlo. Path integral Monte Carlo (PIMC) is a quantum Monte Carlo method used to solve quantum statistical mechanics problems numerically within the path integral formulation. The application of Monte Carlo methods to path integral simulations of condensed matter systems was first pursued in a key paper by John A. Barker. [1][2]
The gradient theorem implies that line integrals through gradient fields are path-independent. In physics this theorem is one of the ways of defining a conservative force. By placing φ as potential, ∇φ is a conservative field. Work done by conservative forces does not depend on the path followed by the object, but only the end points, as ...
Path integral may refer to: Line integral, the integral of a function along a curve. Contour integral, the integral of a complex function along a curve used in complex analysis. Functional integration, the integral of a functional over a space of curves. Path integral formulation, Richard Feynman's formulation of quantum mechanics using ...
In mathematics, an integral is the continuous analog of a sum, which is used to calculate areas, volumes, and their generalizations. Integration, the process of computing an integral, is one of the two fundamental operations of calculus, [a] the other being differentiation. Integration was initially used to solve problems in mathematics and ...