Path Integrals in Quantum Field Theory, Gravitation & Black Holes : Analytical & Numerical Approach

Raghav Govind Jha

St.Xaviers College Department of Physics Kolkata 700016

Start Date : 14th August 2012 Expected Finish : 1st May 2013

Project Supervisor : Dr. Shibaji Banerjee

In my beginning is my end - T.S.Eliot, Four Quartets

Centre for Astroparticle & Space Science, Bose Institute, Kolkata-91 rgjha1989@gmail.com

Abstract
The principle of least action has been one of the sacred pillars in Physics. The path integral formalism developed by Feynman to explain the quantum behaviour was based on sum over paths method which has been successfully extended to many other areas of Physics including Quantum Field Theory (QFT) . But, gravity has always been left out from this dicussion because it is extremely weak as compared to other fundamental interactions and the perturbative expansion results in innite terms . In the 1970s , a quest to develop a unied theory that incorporates all the known interactions has resulted in the vengeance of application of path integrals to gravity as well. In this work, we will discuss about the necessities that encouraged the development of path integrals, implement numerical techniques to solve problems, remark on their transition from non-relativistic Quantum Mechanics to QFT and explore the possibility of using these techniques for quantizing gravitational elds and calculating properties of Black Holes.

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Contents
1 Introduction 1.1 Functional Calculus - Basic Ideas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2 Advantages & Disadvantages of Action Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3 Principle of Least Action & Euler- Lagrange Equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Lagrangian in Quantum Mechanics - Path Integral Approach 2.1 Kernel & Contact Transformations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2 Equivalence of Schrdinger Equation & Path Integrals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . o 2.3 Free particle & Harmonic Oscillator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 4 5 6 7 8 9 9

3 Numerical Simulations of Path Integrals 9 3.1 MATLAB Script for Calculating Propagator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 3.2 Time evolution of the ground state wavefunction for 1-D harmonic oscillator . . . . 11 3.3 Particle in a box using Feynmans Propagator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 4 Quantizing Field : A Path Integral Approach 4.1 Euler-Lagrange Equation for Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2 Symmetries of the Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.3 Scalar 4 theory - Spin 0 Mesons : A Simple Example . . . . . . . 4.4 Interactions & Feynman Transition Amplitudes Gauge Invariance 5 Incorporating Gravity 5.1 Einstein-Hilbert Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2 Modied Gravitational Actions - How the scenario changes ? . . 5.3 Gauge invariance in Gravity - The Requirements . . . . . . . . . 5.4 Gravitational Path Integral & Perturbative Expansion- How is it 12 12 12 13 13 13 14 14 14 14

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6 Path Integrals in Modern Quantum Cosmology 14 6.1 Classical Black Hole . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 6.2 Black Holes Quantized : Entropy & Radiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 7 Epilogue 8 References 14 15

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