Partition function of a particle subject to Gaussian noise

Abstract

We study the averaged partition function for a quantum particle subjected to Gaussian noise using the path integral representation. The noise is characterized by a covariance function with a strength and a range. It falls off rapidly with distance but the analytic form at short distances and the dimensionality are important. The remaining parameter is the thermal length of the particle. For a finite range we study the behavior of the partition function over the entire domain of strengths and thermal lengths. The techniques used are successively more accurate upper and lower bounds that include contributions from configurations involving traps. Particular attention is paid to a self-consistent field analysis lower bound and to a nonlocal quadratic action bound. We also study the white noise limit, i.e., vanishing range with finite values of the other parameters. In one dimension the white noise limit leads to convergent results. In three or higher dimensions the divergent terms can be isolated and computed. In two dimensions the degree of divergences changes at a finite value of the product of the strength and thermal length squared.