scientific article; zbMATH DE number 1284283

MaRDI QIDQ4241865zbMATH OpenFDO

Authors Hartmut Hecht

Publication date 9 April 2000

zbMATH Keywords

Feynman path integral formalismHamilton's principleHelmholtz' actionMaupertuis' principle

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

History of mechanics of particles and systems (70-03) Hamilton's principle (70H25) Other variational principles in mechanics (70H30) Path integrals in quantum mechanics (81S40)

Review text

The author gives a historical and philosophical account of the principle of least action. The article splits into three parts. The first one discusses the historical sources of the principle contrasting the approaches by Leibniz, Newton and Maupertuis. The short second part tries to recast Maupertuis' principle in modern language and compares it to Hamilton's principle. In the final part the author discusses philosophical consequences with special emphasis on Helmholtz' action concept. In addition, a brief discussion of the Feynman path integral formalism in quantum mechanics is given. For the entire collection see [Zbl 0846.00021].

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