Diffraction in the semiclassical approximation to Feynman's path integral representation of the Green function

DOI10.1016/J.AOP.2004.06.003zbMATH Open1062.81058arXivcond-mat/0304290OpenAlexW1970787244MaRDI QIDQ1879754FDOQ1879754

Authors: Martin Schaden, Larry Spruch 

Publication date: 23 September 2004

Published in: Annals of Physics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: We derive the semiclassical approximation to Feynman's path integral representation of the energy Green function of a massless particle in the shadow region of an ideal obstacle in a medium. The wavelength of the particle is assumed to be comparable to or smaller than any relevant length of the problem. Classical paths with extremal length partially creep along the obstacle and their fluctuations are subject to non-holonomic constraints. If the medium is a vacuum, the asymptotic contribution from a single classical path of overall length L to the energy Green function at energy E is that of a non-relativistic particle of mass E/c^2 moving in the two-dimensional space orthogonal to the classical path for a time au=L/c. Dirichlet boundary conditions at the surface of the obstacle constrain the motion of the particle to the exterior half-space and result in an effective time-dependent but spatially constant force that is inversely proportional to the radius of curvature of the classical path. We relate the diffractive, classically forbidden motion in the "creeping" case to the classically allowed motion in the "whispering gallery" case by analytic continuation in the curvature of the classical path. The non-holonomic constraint implies that the surface of the obstacle becomes a zero-dimensional caustic of the particle's motion. We solve this problem for extremal rays with piecewise constant curvature and provide uniform asymptotic expressions that are approximately valid in the penumbra as well as in the deep shadow of a sphere.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/0304290

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Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Green's functions for ordinary differential equations (34B27) Semiclassical techniques, including WKB and Maslov methods applied to problems in quantum theory (81Q20) Feynman integrals and graphs; applications of algebraic topology and algebraic geometry (81Q30) Path integrals in quantum mechanics (81S40)

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Cited In (3)

• WKB propagators in position and momentum space for a linear potential with a `ceiling' boundary
• Geometrical theory of diffracted rays, orbiting and complex rays
• Title not available (Why is that?)

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