The quantum mechanical kernel K(q″,t″; q′,t′) in Feynman's form of a sum over paths is evaluated by means of the canonical transformation to the system Q, P for which the Hamiltonian vanishes identically. The kernel is found to be completely determined by the classical paths, and is given by The sum is over all classical paths leading from q′ at t′ to q″ at t′. S(q″, P, t′; q′, P, t′) is the classical action along the classical path characterized by the constant momentum P.
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Martin Clutton-Brock (1965) studied this question.
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