theoretical physics Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics, which uses experi ...

, stochastic quantization is a method for modelling quantum mechanics, introduced by

Edward Nelson Edward Nelson (May 4, 1932 – September 10, 2014) was an American mathematician. He was professor in the Mathematics Department at Princeton University. He was known for his work on mathematical physics and mathematical logic. In mathematic ...

in 1966, and streamlined by Parisi and Wu.

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Stochastic quantization serves to quantize Euclidean field theories, and is used for numerical applications, such as

numerical simulation Computer simulation is the process of mathematical modelling, performed on a computer, which is designed to predict the behaviour of, or the outcome of, a real-world or physical system. The reliability of some mathematical models can be deter ...

s of

gauge theories In physics, a gauge theory is a type of field theory in which the Lagrangian (and hence the dynamics of the system itself) does not change (is invariant) under local transformations according to certain smooth families of operations (Lie groups ...

with

fermion In particle physics, a fermion is a particle that follows Fermi–Dirac statistics. Generally, it has a half-odd-integer spin: spin , spin , etc. In addition, these particles obey the Pauli exclusion principle. Fermions include all quarks and ...

s. This serves to address the problem of fermion doubling that usually occurs in these numerical calculations. Stochastic quantization takes advantage of the fact that a Euclidean quantum field theory can be modeled as the equilibrium limit of a statistical mechanical system coupled to a

heat bath In thermodynamics, heat is defined as the form of energy crossing the boundary of a thermodynamic system by virtue of a temperature difference across the boundary. A thermodynamic system does not ''contain'' heat. Nevertheless, the term is al ...

. In particular, in the path integral representation of a Euclidean quantum field theory, the path integral measure is closely related to the

Boltzmann distribution In statistical mechanics and mathematics, a Boltzmann distribution (also called Gibbs distribution Translated by J.B. Sykes and M.J. Kearsley. See section 28) is a probability distribution or probability measure that gives the probability ...

of a statistical mechanical system in equilibrium. In this relation, Euclidean

Green's functions In mathematics, a Green's function is the impulse response of an inhomogeneous linear differential operator defined on a domain with specified initial conditions or boundary conditions. This means that if \operatorname is the linear differenti ...

become

correlation function A correlation function is a function that gives the statistical correlation between random variables, contingent on the spatial or temporal distance between those variables. If one considers the correlation function between random variables re ...

s in the statistical mechanical system. A statistical mechanical system in equilibrium can be modeled, via the

ergodic hypothesis In physics and thermodynamics, the ergodic hypothesis says that, over long periods of time, the time spent by a system in some region of the phase space of microstates with the same energy is proportional to the volume of this region, i.e., t ...

, as the

stationary distribution Stationary distribution may refer to: * A special distribution for a Markov chain such that if the chain starts with its stationary distribution, the marginal distribution of all states at any time will always be the stationary distribution. Assum ...

of a stochastic process. Then the Euclidean path integral measure can also be thought of as the stationary distribution of a stochastic process; hence the name stochastic quantization.

References

Stochastic processes {{quantum-stub

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See also

References