Snippets of Physics
23. Real Effects from Imaginary Time
T Padmanabhan
S o m e o f th e c u rio u s e ® e c ts in q u a n tu m th e o ry
a n d sta tistic a l m e ch a n ic s c a n b e in te rp re te d b y
a n a ly tic a lly c o n tin u in g th e tim e c o o rd in a te to
p u r e ly im a g in a ry v a lu e s. W e e x p lo r e so m e o f
th e se issu e s in th is in sta lm e n t.
T Padmanabhan works at In o n e o f th e p rev io u s in sta lm en ts [1 ], w e d iscu ssed h ow
IUCAA, Pune and is
o n e ca n stu d y th e tim e ev o lu tio n o f a q u a n tu m w av e
interested in all areas
of theoretical physics,
fu n ctio n u sin g a p a th in teg ra l p ro p a g a to r g iv en b y
especially those which X
have something to do with K (q 2 ;t2 ;q 1 ;t1 ) = ex p iA [p a th ] ; (1 )
gravity. p a th s
d s 2 = ¡ d t2 + d x 2 ! d ¿ 2 + d x 2 : (4 )
B eca u se o f th is rea so n , o n e o ften ca lls q u a n tities eva lu a ted w ith a n a ly tic co n tin -
u a tio n to im a g in a ry va lu es o f tim e a s `E u clid ea n ' q u a n tities a n d o ften d en o tes
th em w ith a su b scrip t `E ' (w h ich sh o u ld n o t b e co n fu sed w ith en erg y !). If w e
n ow d o th e a n a ly tic co n tin u a tio n o f th e k ern el in (3 ) w e g et th e resu lt
X
K E (T E ;q 2 ;0 ;q 1 ) = Ã n (q 2 )Ã n¤(q 1 ) ex p (¡ E n T E ) : (5 )
n
K E (T E ;q 2 ;0 ;q 1 ) ¼ Ã 0 (q 2 )Ã 0 (q 1 ) ex p (¡ E 0 T E ); (T E ! 1 ) : (6 )
S u p p o se w e n ow p u t q 2 = q 1 = 0 , ta k e th e lo g a rith m o f b o th sid es a n d d iv id e b y
T E , th en in th e lim it o f T E ! 1 , w e g et a fo rm u la fo r th e g ro u n d sta te en erg y :
· ¸
1
¡ E 0 = lim ln K E (T E ;0 ;0 ;0 ) : (7 )
TE! 1 TE
S o if w e ca n d eterm in e th e k ern el b y so m e m eth o d w e w ill k n ow th e g ro u n d sta te
en erg y o f th e sy stem . O n ce th e g ro u n d sta te en erg y is k n ow n w e ca n p lu g it
b a ck in to th e a sy m p to tic ex p a n sio n in (6 ) a n d d eterm in e th e g ro u n d sta te w av e
fu n ctio n .
lim K (T ;0 ;0 ;q) ¼ Ã 0 (0 )Ã 0 (q ) / Ã 0 (q ) : (8 )
T!1
w h ere A c is th e a ctio n eva lu a ted fo r a cla ssica l tra jecto ry a n d N (t2 ;t1 ) is a n o r-
m a liza tio n fa cto r. T h e sa m e id ea s w ill w o rk ev en w h en w e ca n approxim ate
th e k ern el b y th e a b ov e ex p ressio n . W e saw in th e la st in sta lm en t th a t in th e
sem i-cla ssica l lim it th e w av e fu n ctio n s ca n b e ex p ressed in term s o f th e cla ssica l
a ctio n . It fo llow s th a t th e k ern el ca n b e w ritten in th e a b ov e fo rm in th e sa m e
sem i-cla ssica l lim it. If w e n ow a n a ly tica lly co n tin u e th is ex p ressio n to im a g in a ry
va lu es o f tim e, th en u sin g th e resu lt in (8 ) w e g et a sim p le fo rm u la fo r th e g ro u n d
sta te w av e fu n ctio n in term s o f th e E u clid ea n a ctio n (th a t is, th e a ctio n fo r a
cla ssica l tra jecto ry o b ta in ed a fter a n a ly tic co n tin u a tio n to im a g in a ry v a lu e o f
tim e):
à 0 (q ) / ex p [¡ A E (T E = 1 ;0 ;T E = 0 ;q )]
/ ex p [¡ A E (1 ;0 ;0 ;q)] : (1 0 )
à 0 (q) / ex p ¡ [(! = 2 )q 2 ] (1 3 )
T r (½ O )
hO i = ; (1 6 )
T r (½ )
½ (q;q 0) = hqje ¡¯ H jq 0i : (1 7 )
½ (q;q 0) = K E (¯ ;q ;0 ;q 0) : (1 8 )
d l2
d s 2 = ¡ 2 · ld t2 + + dL 2
? ; (2 0 )
2· l
w h ere l ´ (r ¡ a ) is th e d ista n ce fro m th e h o rizo n . If w e n ow m a k e a co o rd in a te
tra n sfo rm a tio n fro m l to a n o th er sp a tia l co o rd in a te x su ch th a t (· x )2 = 2 · l, th e
m etric b eco m es
d s 2 = ¡ · 2 x 2 d t2 + d x 2 + d L 2
? : (2 1 )
d s 2 = x 2 d µ 2 + d x 2 + d L 2? : (2 2 )
· 1 ~c 3
¯ ¡1 = = = ; (2 3 )
2¼ 4 ¼ rg 8¼ G M
v eri¯ ed b y sev era l o th er m eth o d s in th e co n tex t o f g en era l rela tiv ity, a tra n sp a ren t
p h y sica l u n d ersta n d in g is still la ck in g .
T h e im a g in a ry tim e a n d E u clid ea n a ctio n also p lay a n in terestin g ro le in th e ca se
o f tu n n elin g . T o see th is, let u s sta rt w ith th e ex p ressio n fo r th e cla ssica l a ctio n
w ritten in a slig h tly d i® eren t fo rm :
Z Z Z Z
A = d tL = d t(p q_ ¡ H ) = pdq ¡ H dt : (2 4 )
W h ile u sin g th e a ctio n p rin cip le, w e u su a lly co n cen tra te o n tra jecto ries w ith ¯ x ed
en d p o in ts (t1 ;q 1 ) a n d (t2 ;q 2 ). W h en th e H a m ilto n ia n is in d ep en d en t o f tim e, w e
ca n a lso stu d y cla ssica l tra jecto ries o f p a rticles w ith a ¯ x ed va lu e fo r en erg y E .
In th is ca se, th e seco n d term in (2 4 ) b eco m es ju st E t apn d th e n o n -triv ia l va ria tio n
a ctu a lly co m es fro m th e ¯ rst term . E x p ressin g p a s 2 m (E ¡ V ) fo r a p a rticle
o f m a ss m m ov in g in a p o ten tia l V , w e g et a n a ctio n { clo sely rela ted to w h a t is
ca lled `J a co b i a ctio n ' { g iv en b y
Z Zp
S = pd q = 2 m (E ¡ V )d q : (2 5 )
Suggested Reading
Address for Correspondence: T Padmanabhan, IUCAA, Post Bag 4, Pune, University Campus, Ganeshkhind,
Pune 411 007, India. Email: paddy@iucaa.ernet.in, nabhan@iucaa.ernet.in