Path-integral action in the generalized uncertainty principle framework

Abstract

Various gedanken experiments of quantum gravity phenomenology in search of a complete theory of gravity near the Planck scale indicate a modification of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle to the generalized uncertainty principle (GUP). This modification leads to nontrivial contributions on the Hamiltonian of a nonrelativistic particle moving in an arbitrary potential. In this paper we study the path integral representation of a particle moving in an arbitrary potential using the most general form of the GUP containing both the linear and quadratic contributions in momentum. First we work out the action of the particle in an arbitrary potential and hence find an upper bound to the velocity of a free particle. This upper bound interestingly imposes restrictions on the relation between the GUP parameters $\alpha$ and $\beta$. Analysis shows that $ \beta > 4 \alpha^2$. We then deduce the mathematical expressions of classical action and the quantum fluctuations for both free particle and the harmonic oscillator systems.