Functional integral formulation of classical wave equations

Abstract

It is shown in this paper that classical wave equations admit path integral formulations. For this, the evolution of the system is first set-up in terms of a fundamental solution or propagator. We choose this last name because it suggests a connection with functional integrals, which are exploited in this work. A functional integral in terms of non-singular functions is then proposed and shown to converge to the propagator in the appropriate limit for the case of scalar wave equations. One of the advantages of such formulation is that it provides an adequate framework for mesh-free numerical methods. This is demonstrated through a computational implementation that combines a simple second-degree polynomial local approximation of the continuous field and an approximate statement of the exact evolution equations. Numerical simulations of modal analysis and transient dynamics indicate the feasibility of the technique.