Semiclassical dynamics of a spin-1/2 in an arbitrary magnetic field
Loading...
Date
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Description
The spin coherent state path integral describing the dynamics of a spin-1/2-system in a magnetic field of arbitrary time-dependence is considered. Defining the path integral as the limit of a Wiener regularized expression, the semiclassical approximation leads to a continuous minimal action path with jumps at the endpoints. The resulting semiclassical propagator is shown to coincide with the exact quantum mechanical propagator. A non-linear transformation of the angle variables allows for a determination of the semiclassical path and the jumps without solving a boundary-value problem. The semiclassical spin dynamics is thus readily amenable to numerical methods.
16 pages, submitted to Journal of Physics A
16 pages, submitted to Journal of Physics A