A general formulation of discrete-time quantum mechanics, restrictions on the action and the relation of unitarity to the existence theorem for initial-value problems

A general formlulation for discrete-time quantum mechanics, based on Feynman's method in ordinary quantum mechanics, is presented. It is shown that the ambiguities present in ordinary quantum mechanics (due to noncommutativity of the operators), are no longer present here. Then the criteria for the unitarity of the evolution operator is examined. It is shown that the unitarity of the evolution operator puts restrictions on the form of the action, and also implies the existence of a solution for the classical initial-value problem.