Semiclassical approximation to the partition function of a particle in D dimensions

Abstract

We use a path integral formalism to derive the semiclassical series for the partition function of a particle in D dimensions. We analyze in particular the case of attractive central potentials, obtaining explicit expressions for the fluctuation determinant and for the semiclassical two-point function in the special cases of the harmonic and single-well quartic anharmonic oscillators. The specific heat of the latter is compared to precise WKB estimates. We conclude by discussing the possible extension of our results to field theories.

REVTEX,14 pages, 2 figures, final version to appear in Phys. Rev. E

References in corpus (2)

• Variational perturbation expansion for strong-coupling coefficients of the anharmonic oscillator
• Semiclassical Series at Finite Temperature

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