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 Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/1228

 Title: Time discretization of functional integrals Authors: Samson, J.H. Keywords: quantum physicsstatistical mechanics Issue Date: 2000 Abstract: Numerical evaluation of functional integrals usually involves a finite (L-slice) discretization of the imaginary-time axis. In the auxiliary-field method, the L-slice approximant to the density matrix can be evaluated as a function of inverse temperature at any finite L as $\rho_L(\beta)=[\rho_1(\beta/L)]^L$, if the density matrix $\rho_1(\beta)$ in the static approximation is known. We investigate the convergence of the partition function $Z_L(\beta)=Tr\rho_L(\beta)$, the internal energy and the density of states $g_L(E)$ (the inverse Laplace transform of $Z_L$), as $L\to\infty$. For the simple harmonic oscillator, $g_L(E)$ is a normalized truncated Fourier series for the exact density of states. When the auxiliary-field approach is applied to spin systems, approximants to the density of states and heat capacity can be negative. Approximants to the density matrix for a spin-1/2 dimer are found in closed form for all L by appending a self-interaction to the divergent Gaussian integral and analytically continuing to zero self-interaction. Because of this continuation, the coefficient of the singlet projector in the approximate density matrix can be negative. For a spin dimer, $Z_L$ is an even function of the coupling constant for L<3: ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic coupling can be distinguished only for $L\ge 3$, where a Berry phase appears in the functional integral. At any non-zero temperature, the exact partition function is recovered as $L\to\infty$. Description: This is a pre-print. It is also available at: http://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0003109. The definitive version: SAMSON, 2000. Time discretization of functional integrals. Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and General, 33, 3111-3120, is available at: http://www.iop.org/EJ/journal/JPhysA. URI: https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/1228 Appears in Collections: Pre-Prints (Physics)

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