Torrey Saxton
Student Research Symposium - 1st
Calculation of Time-Dependent Wave Functions Using a Numerically Exact Path Integral Approach
*Torrey Saxton, Dr. Allison Harris
Illinois State University
The Path Integral technique is an alternative formulation of quantum mechanics that is completely equivalent to the more traditional Schrödinger equation approach. Developed by Feynman in the 1940’s, following inspiration from Dirac, the path integral approach has been widely used in high energy physics, quantum field theory, and statistical mechanics. However, only in limited cases has the path integral approach been applied to quantum mechanical scattering. We introduce a numerical method for calculating the quantum mechanical propagator exactly and present results for the time evolution of various systems.
Torrey Saxton
Student Research Symposium - 1st
Calculation of Time-Dependent Wave Functions Using a Numerically Exact Path Integral Approach
*Torrey Saxton, Dr. Allison Harris
Illinois State University
The Path Integral technique is an alternative formulation of quantum mechanics that is completely equivalent to the more traditional Schrödinger equation approach. Developed by Feynman in the 1940’s, following inspiration from Dirac, the path integral approach has been widely used in high energy physics, quantum field theory, and statistical mechanics. However, only in limited cases has the path integral approach been applied to quantum mechanical scattering. We introduce a numerical method for calculating the quantum mechanical propagator exactly and present results for the time evolution of various systems.