Discretized Path Integral Research Articles

Operator Ordering and Perturbation Expansion in the Path Integral Formalism

The operator ordering problem in the path integral formalism is studied in the context of the perturbation expansion. For a given ordered Hamiltonian, there exists a path integral formula which reproduces the corresponding quantum mechanics, i.e., the same Feynman­ Wick rules as the operator formalism. The Weyl ordering is shown to play an important role in connecting the discrete path integral (defined on a finite mesh) with the continuous one.