Cartier P., DeWitt-Morette C. Functional Integration: Action and Symmetries

Cambridge University Press, 2006 — 480 pp. — (Cambridge Monographs on Mathematical Physics) — ISBN 9780511260292 (eBook), 9780521866965 (hardback)Functional integration successfully entered physics as path integrals in the 1942 Ph.D. dissertation of Richard P. Feynman, but it made no sense at all as a mathematical definition. Cartier and DeWitt-Morette have created, in this book, a fresh approach to functional integration. The book is self-contained: mathematical ideas are introduced, developed, generalised and applied. In the authors' hands, functional integration is shown to be a robust, user-friendly and multi-purpose tool that can be applied to a great variety of situations, for example: systems of indistinguishable particles; Aharonov–Bohm systems; supersymmetry; non-gaussian integrals. Problems in quantum field theory are also considered. In the final part the authors outline topics that can be profitably pursued using material already presented.A mathematician and a physicist, with a mutual interest in each other's disciplines, use their complementary interests and expertise to illuminate the powerful technique of functional integration
Functional integration is applied to a great variety of systems and shown to be a robust, user-friendly and multipurpose tool
Suitable for graduate theoretical physicists wanting to deepen their understanding of the functional integration techniqueTable of Contents