Solution of Coulomb Path Integral in Momentum Space
classification
🪐 quant-ph
keywords
spacecurvedpathsolutioncoulombfirstintegralmomentum
read the original abstract
The path integral for a point particle in a Coulomb potential is solved in momentum space. The solution permits us to give for the first time a negative answer to an old question of quantum mechanics in curved spaces raised in 1957 by DeWitt, whether the Hamiltonian of a particle in a curved space contains an additional term proportional to the curvature scalar $R$. We show that this would cause experimentally wrong level spacings in the hydrogen atom. Our solution also gives a first experimental confirmation of the correctness of the measure of integration in path integrals in curved space implied by a recently discovered nonholonomic mapping principle.
This paper has not been read by Pith yet.
discussion (0)
Sign in with ORCID, Apple, or X to comment. Anyone can read and Pith papers without signing in.