Why are Fokker–Planck equation and Feynman path integral formalisms equivalent?How to solve the differential equation for the motion equation of a body in a gravitational field from one fixed sourceHow to find interesting operators for a quantum system?Hamiltonian description for a Lagrangian dynamical system: Sufficent conditionUnderstanding the Fokker-Planck equation for non-stationary processesDeriving Fokker-Planck equation for a microswimmerFinding stationary distribution of the following stochastic process?Functional integralFokker Planck forward equationEquivalence between Fokker Planck Equation and SDEsstochastic Fokker Planck for conditional probability

Are tamper resistant receptacles really safer?

How to secure an aircraft at a transient parking space?

meaning and function of 幸 in "则幸分我一杯羹"

Reverse string, can I make it faster?

Do I really need to have a scientific explanation for my premise?

How can The Temple of Elementary Evil reliably protect itself against kinetic bombardment?

Motivation for Zeta Function of an Algebraic Variety

Virginia employer terminated employee and wants signing bonus returned

Why would one plane in this picture not have gear down yet?

Error during using callback start_page_number in lualatex

What Happens when Passenger Refuses to Fly Boeing 737 Max?

weren't playing vs didn't play

Does the nature of the Apocalypse in The Umbrella Academy change from the first to the last episode?

Doesn't allowing a user mode program to access kernel space memory and execute the IN and OUT instructions defeat the purpose of having CPU modes?

Was Luke Skywalker the leader of the Rebel forces on Hoth?

Distinction between apt-cache and dpkg -l

What wound would be of little consequence to a biped but terrible for a quadruped?

Shifting between bemols (flats) and diesis (sharps)in the key signature

Declaring and defining template, and specialising them

Definition of Statistic

Are babies of evil humanoid species inherently evil?

How do I express some one as a black person?

Is it "Vierergruppe" or "Viergruppe", or is there a distinction?

Signed and unsigned numbers



Why are Fokker–Planck equation and Feynman path integral formalisms equivalent?


How to solve the differential equation for the motion equation of a body in a gravitational field from one fixed sourceHow to find interesting operators for a quantum system?Hamiltonian description for a Lagrangian dynamical system: Sufficent conditionUnderstanding the Fokker-Planck equation for non-stationary processesDeriving Fokker-Planck equation for a microswimmerFinding stationary distribution of the following stochastic process?Functional integralFokker Planck forward equationEquivalence between Fokker Planck Equation and SDEsstochastic Fokker Planck for conditional probability













5












$begingroup$


Feynman path integral is equivalent to Fokker–Planck equation. This is mentioned here, but it's not clear why.



(This page says Schrodinger equation is also equivalent to Fokker–Planck equation which makes me even more confused).



Basically what I am asking is:



How to show that Fokker-Plank:
$fracpartialpartial t p(x, t) = -fracpartialpartial xleft[mu(x, t) p(x, t)right] + fracpartial^2partial x^2left[D(x, t) p(x, t)right]$ is equivalent to path integral: $psi(x,t)=frac1Zint_mathbfx(0)=x e^iS(mathbfx,dotmathbfx)psi_0(mathbfx(t)), mathcalDmathbfx$?



Where $S(mathbfx,dotmathbfx)= int L( mathbfx(t),dotmathbfx(t))dt$ is the action (integral over the Lagrangian) and $mathcalDmathbfx$ stands for the integration over all possible paths?










share|cite|improve this question











$endgroup$







  • 2




    $begingroup$
    Details of this are worked out in "Quantum Field Theory and Critical Phenomena" by J. Zinn-Justin.
    $endgroup$
    – BobaFret
    Oct 6 '17 at 15:06






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Related Phys.SE question: physics.stackexchange.com/q/310623/2451
    $endgroup$
    – Qmechanic
    Nov 12 '17 at 14:08










  • $begingroup$
    theory.physics.manchester.ac.uk/~ajm/stoch09.pdf
    $endgroup$
    – 0x90
    Jan 19 '18 at 10:54










  • $begingroup$
    @BobaFret Could you say where in the book it's addressed?
    $endgroup$
    – J.G.
    2 days ago






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    @J.G. I’ll check when I’m in my office again
    $endgroup$
    – BobaFret
    2 days ago















5












$begingroup$


Feynman path integral is equivalent to Fokker–Planck equation. This is mentioned here, but it's not clear why.



(This page says Schrodinger equation is also equivalent to Fokker–Planck equation which makes me even more confused).



Basically what I am asking is:



How to show that Fokker-Plank:
$fracpartialpartial t p(x, t) = -fracpartialpartial xleft[mu(x, t) p(x, t)right] + fracpartial^2partial x^2left[D(x, t) p(x, t)right]$ is equivalent to path integral: $psi(x,t)=frac1Zint_mathbfx(0)=x e^iS(mathbfx,dotmathbfx)psi_0(mathbfx(t)), mathcalDmathbfx$?



Where $S(mathbfx,dotmathbfx)= int L( mathbfx(t),dotmathbfx(t))dt$ is the action (integral over the Lagrangian) and $mathcalDmathbfx$ stands for the integration over all possible paths?










share|cite|improve this question











$endgroup$







  • 2




    $begingroup$
    Details of this are worked out in "Quantum Field Theory and Critical Phenomena" by J. Zinn-Justin.
    $endgroup$
    – BobaFret
    Oct 6 '17 at 15:06






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Related Phys.SE question: physics.stackexchange.com/q/310623/2451
    $endgroup$
    – Qmechanic
    Nov 12 '17 at 14:08










  • $begingroup$
    theory.physics.manchester.ac.uk/~ajm/stoch09.pdf
    $endgroup$
    – 0x90
    Jan 19 '18 at 10:54










  • $begingroup$
    @BobaFret Could you say where in the book it's addressed?
    $endgroup$
    – J.G.
    2 days ago






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    @J.G. I’ll check when I’m in my office again
    $endgroup$
    – BobaFret
    2 days ago













5












5








5


5



$begingroup$


Feynman path integral is equivalent to Fokker–Planck equation. This is mentioned here, but it's not clear why.



(This page says Schrodinger equation is also equivalent to Fokker–Planck equation which makes me even more confused).



Basically what I am asking is:



How to show that Fokker-Plank:
$fracpartialpartial t p(x, t) = -fracpartialpartial xleft[mu(x, t) p(x, t)right] + fracpartial^2partial x^2left[D(x, t) p(x, t)right]$ is equivalent to path integral: $psi(x,t)=frac1Zint_mathbfx(0)=x e^iS(mathbfx,dotmathbfx)psi_0(mathbfx(t)), mathcalDmathbfx$?



Where $S(mathbfx,dotmathbfx)= int L( mathbfx(t),dotmathbfx(t))dt$ is the action (integral over the Lagrangian) and $mathcalDmathbfx$ stands for the integration over all possible paths?










share|cite|improve this question











$endgroup$




Feynman path integral is equivalent to Fokker–Planck equation. This is mentioned here, but it's not clear why.



(This page says Schrodinger equation is also equivalent to Fokker–Planck equation which makes me even more confused).



Basically what I am asking is:



How to show that Fokker-Plank:
$fracpartialpartial t p(x, t) = -fracpartialpartial xleft[mu(x, t) p(x, t)right] + fracpartial^2partial x^2left[D(x, t) p(x, t)right]$ is equivalent to path integral: $psi(x,t)=frac1Zint_mathbfx(0)=x e^iS(mathbfx,dotmathbfx)psi_0(mathbfx(t)), mathcalDmathbfx$?



Where $S(mathbfx,dotmathbfx)= int L( mathbfx(t),dotmathbfx(t))dt$ is the action (integral over the Lagrangian) and $mathcalDmathbfx$ stands for the integration over all possible paths?







stochastic-processes physics mathematical-physics quantum-mechanics statistical-mechanics






share|cite|improve this question















share|cite|improve this question













share|cite|improve this question




share|cite|improve this question








edited 2 days ago







0x90

















asked Sep 11 '17 at 2:47









0x900x90

6781818




6781818







  • 2




    $begingroup$
    Details of this are worked out in "Quantum Field Theory and Critical Phenomena" by J. Zinn-Justin.
    $endgroup$
    – BobaFret
    Oct 6 '17 at 15:06






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Related Phys.SE question: physics.stackexchange.com/q/310623/2451
    $endgroup$
    – Qmechanic
    Nov 12 '17 at 14:08










  • $begingroup$
    theory.physics.manchester.ac.uk/~ajm/stoch09.pdf
    $endgroup$
    – 0x90
    Jan 19 '18 at 10:54










  • $begingroup$
    @BobaFret Could you say where in the book it's addressed?
    $endgroup$
    – J.G.
    2 days ago






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    @J.G. I’ll check when I’m in my office again
    $endgroup$
    – BobaFret
    2 days ago












  • 2




    $begingroup$
    Details of this are worked out in "Quantum Field Theory and Critical Phenomena" by J. Zinn-Justin.
    $endgroup$
    – BobaFret
    Oct 6 '17 at 15:06






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Related Phys.SE question: physics.stackexchange.com/q/310623/2451
    $endgroup$
    – Qmechanic
    Nov 12 '17 at 14:08










  • $begingroup$
    theory.physics.manchester.ac.uk/~ajm/stoch09.pdf
    $endgroup$
    – 0x90
    Jan 19 '18 at 10:54










  • $begingroup$
    @BobaFret Could you say where in the book it's addressed?
    $endgroup$
    – J.G.
    2 days ago






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    @J.G. I’ll check when I’m in my office again
    $endgroup$
    – BobaFret
    2 days ago







2




2




$begingroup$
Details of this are worked out in "Quantum Field Theory and Critical Phenomena" by J. Zinn-Justin.
$endgroup$
– BobaFret
Oct 6 '17 at 15:06




$begingroup$
Details of this are worked out in "Quantum Field Theory and Critical Phenomena" by J. Zinn-Justin.
$endgroup$
– BobaFret
Oct 6 '17 at 15:06




1




1




$begingroup$
Related Phys.SE question: physics.stackexchange.com/q/310623/2451
$endgroup$
– Qmechanic
Nov 12 '17 at 14:08




$begingroup$
Related Phys.SE question: physics.stackexchange.com/q/310623/2451
$endgroup$
– Qmechanic
Nov 12 '17 at 14:08












$begingroup$
theory.physics.manchester.ac.uk/~ajm/stoch09.pdf
$endgroup$
– 0x90
Jan 19 '18 at 10:54




$begingroup$
theory.physics.manchester.ac.uk/~ajm/stoch09.pdf
$endgroup$
– 0x90
Jan 19 '18 at 10:54












$begingroup$
@BobaFret Could you say where in the book it's addressed?
$endgroup$
– J.G.
2 days ago




$begingroup$
@BobaFret Could you say where in the book it's addressed?
$endgroup$
– J.G.
2 days ago




1




1




$begingroup$
@J.G. I’ll check when I’m in my office again
$endgroup$
– BobaFret
2 days ago




$begingroup$
@J.G. I’ll check when I’m in my office again
$endgroup$
– BobaFret
2 days ago










1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes


















3












$begingroup$

I will start by apologising for a physicist's level of rigor in the following derivations but I think they give good insight into the connection between what I would call stochastic physics' Trinity of Langevin, Fokker-Planck and Path integral.



Fokker-Planck from Langevin equation



Given a Langevin equation $dZ_t=b(Z_t)dt+sigma(Z_t)dW_t$ (the most common form found in physics) we can derive the Fokker-Planck equation from the Chapman-Kolmogorov equation in a quick and dirty way:



$$
p(y,t|x)=int dz, p(y,t|z)p(z,t'|x)
$$



We suppose that $t = delta t$ and thus we can write $$p(y,t|z) = leftlangle delta (y-z-h)rightrangle_h$$ where $h=delta Z$ is defined by the associated Langevin equation. Now we have



$$
p(y,t|x)=int dz, leftlangle delta (y-z-h)rightrangle_hp(z,t'|x),.tag$ast$
$$



We can then Taylor expand the delta function as



$$
left(1+leftlangle hrightrangle fracpartialpartial y +frac12leftlangle h^2rightrangle fracpartial^2partial y^2 +ldotsright)delta(y-z) = (1+mathscrL)delta(y-z),,
$$



then integrating by parts and the delta function we are left with



$$
p(y,t|x)=(1+mathscrL^dagger)p(y,t'|x),.
$$



Expanding $p(y,t|x)= p(y,t'|x) + fracpartialpartial tp(y,t'|x) + ldots$ in the limit $t rightarrow 0$ we arrive at the Fokker-Planck equation



$$
fracx)partial t=mathscrL^daggerp(y,t|x)
$$



relabelling $t'$ as $t$.



Path integral from Langevin



We apply the Chapman-Kolmogorov equation many times:



$$
p(y,t|x)=intprod_i=1^Ndz_i, p(y,t_N|z_N)ldots p(z_2,t_2|z_1)p(z_1,t_1|x)
$$



And then use $(ast)$ to replace each along with the identity $delta(x) = int dk exp(ikx)$ we get a sequence of averages over complex exponentials:



$$
p(y,t|x)=int Dz Dk, leftlangle e^ik_N(z_N-z_N-1-h_N)rightrangleldots leftlangle e^ik_2(z_2-z_1-h_2)rightrangle leftlangle e^ik_1(z_1-x-h_1)rightrangle
$$



however we can still do better. Knowing the probability distribution of $h$ (usually Gaussian in physics) we can write
$$
leftlangle O rightrangle = int dh P(h) O
$$
thus after replacing every averaged over exponential we get



$$
p(y,t|x)=int Dz Dk Dh, e^iint dt ,kdotz P[h_t]
$$



and when you perform the integrations over the paths of $k$ and $h$ you will get your path integral.



Path integral from Fokker-Planck



I am less sure about how to go about directly showing the equivalence without the presence of a Langevin equation. However if we create a Lagrangian by multiplying the F-P equation by an auxiliary field and then integrate over all paths of our probability density and our auxiliary field, I have a feeling this will work but I am not certain so I will leave my answer here.



The main point of this is to show that the path integral and the FP equation are essentially two different representations of the Chapman-Kolmogorov equation. As far as I can tell they are basically interchangeable and I hope someone more knowledgeable than myself can come in and explain why you would use one over the other in certain situations.



I hope this has been useful!






share|cite|improve this answer











$endgroup$












  • $begingroup$
    Can you please define symbols and letters?
    $endgroup$
    – 0x90
    Jan 18 '18 at 3:01










  • $begingroup$
    Almost all symbols and letters used are standard notation. I'm assuming you are familiar with the propagator (little $p$). Big $P$ is the probability distribution of the generic random variable $O$ and in the context of the question would be the probability distribution of each step $h_i$ which in the continuum limit becomes a functional of the path $h_t$
    $endgroup$
    – Takoda
    Jan 18 '18 at 9:47











  • $begingroup$
    Shouldn't the integral in the chapman-kolomogrov function be over dt' as well? What about dW shouldn't it be $dW_t$?
    $endgroup$
    – 0x90
    Jan 20 '18 at 19:20










  • $begingroup$
    No to the first question, because what the C-K equation says is that at some time the particle must be at some point in our space. That is to say, pick an intermediate $t'$ and the particle must be somewhere, thus we integrate over all space, not time. Yes tot he second, I will correct this.
    $endgroup$
    – Takoda
    Feb 5 '18 at 8:58











  • $begingroup$
    on the RHS you have an expression with t'. On the LHS there is only t. Without integrating over t' the LHS has to have t'.
    $endgroup$
    – 0x90
    Feb 5 '18 at 11:54










Your Answer





StackExchange.ifUsing("editor", function ()
return StackExchange.using("mathjaxEditing", function ()
StackExchange.MarkdownEditor.creationCallbacks.add(function (editor, postfix)
StackExchange.mathjaxEditing.prepareWmdForMathJax(editor, postfix, [["$", "$"], ["\\(","\\)"]]);
);
);
, "mathjax-editing");

StackExchange.ready(function()
var channelOptions =
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "69"
;
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function()
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled)
StackExchange.using("snippets", function()
createEditor();
);

else
createEditor();

);

function createEditor()
StackExchange.prepareEditor(
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: true,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: 10,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader:
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
,
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
);



);













draft saved

draft discarded


















StackExchange.ready(
function ()
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fmath.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f2424787%2fwhy-are-fokker-planck-equation-and-feynman-path-integral-formalisms-equivalent%23new-answer', 'question_page');

);

Post as a guest















Required, but never shown

























1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes








1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes









active

oldest

votes






active

oldest

votes









3












$begingroup$

I will start by apologising for a physicist's level of rigor in the following derivations but I think they give good insight into the connection between what I would call stochastic physics' Trinity of Langevin, Fokker-Planck and Path integral.



Fokker-Planck from Langevin equation



Given a Langevin equation $dZ_t=b(Z_t)dt+sigma(Z_t)dW_t$ (the most common form found in physics) we can derive the Fokker-Planck equation from the Chapman-Kolmogorov equation in a quick and dirty way:



$$
p(y,t|x)=int dz, p(y,t|z)p(z,t'|x)
$$



We suppose that $t = delta t$ and thus we can write $$p(y,t|z) = leftlangle delta (y-z-h)rightrangle_h$$ where $h=delta Z$ is defined by the associated Langevin equation. Now we have



$$
p(y,t|x)=int dz, leftlangle delta (y-z-h)rightrangle_hp(z,t'|x),.tag$ast$
$$



We can then Taylor expand the delta function as



$$
left(1+leftlangle hrightrangle fracpartialpartial y +frac12leftlangle h^2rightrangle fracpartial^2partial y^2 +ldotsright)delta(y-z) = (1+mathscrL)delta(y-z),,
$$



then integrating by parts and the delta function we are left with



$$
p(y,t|x)=(1+mathscrL^dagger)p(y,t'|x),.
$$



Expanding $p(y,t|x)= p(y,t'|x) + fracpartialpartial tp(y,t'|x) + ldots$ in the limit $t rightarrow 0$ we arrive at the Fokker-Planck equation



$$
fracx)partial t=mathscrL^daggerp(y,t|x)
$$



relabelling $t'$ as $t$.



Path integral from Langevin



We apply the Chapman-Kolmogorov equation many times:



$$
p(y,t|x)=intprod_i=1^Ndz_i, p(y,t_N|z_N)ldots p(z_2,t_2|z_1)p(z_1,t_1|x)
$$



And then use $(ast)$ to replace each along with the identity $delta(x) = int dk exp(ikx)$ we get a sequence of averages over complex exponentials:



$$
p(y,t|x)=int Dz Dk, leftlangle e^ik_N(z_N-z_N-1-h_N)rightrangleldots leftlangle e^ik_2(z_2-z_1-h_2)rightrangle leftlangle e^ik_1(z_1-x-h_1)rightrangle
$$



however we can still do better. Knowing the probability distribution of $h$ (usually Gaussian in physics) we can write
$$
leftlangle O rightrangle = int dh P(h) O
$$
thus after replacing every averaged over exponential we get



$$
p(y,t|x)=int Dz Dk Dh, e^iint dt ,kdotz P[h_t]
$$



and when you perform the integrations over the paths of $k$ and $h$ you will get your path integral.



Path integral from Fokker-Planck



I am less sure about how to go about directly showing the equivalence without the presence of a Langevin equation. However if we create a Lagrangian by multiplying the F-P equation by an auxiliary field and then integrate over all paths of our probability density and our auxiliary field, I have a feeling this will work but I am not certain so I will leave my answer here.



The main point of this is to show that the path integral and the FP equation are essentially two different representations of the Chapman-Kolmogorov equation. As far as I can tell they are basically interchangeable and I hope someone more knowledgeable than myself can come in and explain why you would use one over the other in certain situations.



I hope this has been useful!






share|cite|improve this answer











$endgroup$












  • $begingroup$
    Can you please define symbols and letters?
    $endgroup$
    – 0x90
    Jan 18 '18 at 3:01










  • $begingroup$
    Almost all symbols and letters used are standard notation. I'm assuming you are familiar with the propagator (little $p$). Big $P$ is the probability distribution of the generic random variable $O$ and in the context of the question would be the probability distribution of each step $h_i$ which in the continuum limit becomes a functional of the path $h_t$
    $endgroup$
    – Takoda
    Jan 18 '18 at 9:47











  • $begingroup$
    Shouldn't the integral in the chapman-kolomogrov function be over dt' as well? What about dW shouldn't it be $dW_t$?
    $endgroup$
    – 0x90
    Jan 20 '18 at 19:20










  • $begingroup$
    No to the first question, because what the C-K equation says is that at some time the particle must be at some point in our space. That is to say, pick an intermediate $t'$ and the particle must be somewhere, thus we integrate over all space, not time. Yes tot he second, I will correct this.
    $endgroup$
    – Takoda
    Feb 5 '18 at 8:58











  • $begingroup$
    on the RHS you have an expression with t'. On the LHS there is only t. Without integrating over t' the LHS has to have t'.
    $endgroup$
    – 0x90
    Feb 5 '18 at 11:54















3












$begingroup$

I will start by apologising for a physicist's level of rigor in the following derivations but I think they give good insight into the connection between what I would call stochastic physics' Trinity of Langevin, Fokker-Planck and Path integral.



Fokker-Planck from Langevin equation



Given a Langevin equation $dZ_t=b(Z_t)dt+sigma(Z_t)dW_t$ (the most common form found in physics) we can derive the Fokker-Planck equation from the Chapman-Kolmogorov equation in a quick and dirty way:



$$
p(y,t|x)=int dz, p(y,t|z)p(z,t'|x)
$$



We suppose that $t = delta t$ and thus we can write $$p(y,t|z) = leftlangle delta (y-z-h)rightrangle_h$$ where $h=delta Z$ is defined by the associated Langevin equation. Now we have



$$
p(y,t|x)=int dz, leftlangle delta (y-z-h)rightrangle_hp(z,t'|x),.tag$ast$
$$



We can then Taylor expand the delta function as



$$
left(1+leftlangle hrightrangle fracpartialpartial y +frac12leftlangle h^2rightrangle fracpartial^2partial y^2 +ldotsright)delta(y-z) = (1+mathscrL)delta(y-z),,
$$



then integrating by parts and the delta function we are left with



$$
p(y,t|x)=(1+mathscrL^dagger)p(y,t'|x),.
$$



Expanding $p(y,t|x)= p(y,t'|x) + fracpartialpartial tp(y,t'|x) + ldots$ in the limit $t rightarrow 0$ we arrive at the Fokker-Planck equation



$$
fracx)partial t=mathscrL^daggerp(y,t|x)
$$



relabelling $t'$ as $t$.



Path integral from Langevin



We apply the Chapman-Kolmogorov equation many times:



$$
p(y,t|x)=intprod_i=1^Ndz_i, p(y,t_N|z_N)ldots p(z_2,t_2|z_1)p(z_1,t_1|x)
$$



And then use $(ast)$ to replace each along with the identity $delta(x) = int dk exp(ikx)$ we get a sequence of averages over complex exponentials:



$$
p(y,t|x)=int Dz Dk, leftlangle e^ik_N(z_N-z_N-1-h_N)rightrangleldots leftlangle e^ik_2(z_2-z_1-h_2)rightrangle leftlangle e^ik_1(z_1-x-h_1)rightrangle
$$



however we can still do better. Knowing the probability distribution of $h$ (usually Gaussian in physics) we can write
$$
leftlangle O rightrangle = int dh P(h) O
$$
thus after replacing every averaged over exponential we get



$$
p(y,t|x)=int Dz Dk Dh, e^iint dt ,kdotz P[h_t]
$$



and when you perform the integrations over the paths of $k$ and $h$ you will get your path integral.



Path integral from Fokker-Planck



I am less sure about how to go about directly showing the equivalence without the presence of a Langevin equation. However if we create a Lagrangian by multiplying the F-P equation by an auxiliary field and then integrate over all paths of our probability density and our auxiliary field, I have a feeling this will work but I am not certain so I will leave my answer here.



The main point of this is to show that the path integral and the FP equation are essentially two different representations of the Chapman-Kolmogorov equation. As far as I can tell they are basically interchangeable and I hope someone more knowledgeable than myself can come in and explain why you would use one over the other in certain situations.



I hope this has been useful!






share|cite|improve this answer











$endgroup$












  • $begingroup$
    Can you please define symbols and letters?
    $endgroup$
    – 0x90
    Jan 18 '18 at 3:01










  • $begingroup$
    Almost all symbols and letters used are standard notation. I'm assuming you are familiar with the propagator (little $p$). Big $P$ is the probability distribution of the generic random variable $O$ and in the context of the question would be the probability distribution of each step $h_i$ which in the continuum limit becomes a functional of the path $h_t$
    $endgroup$
    – Takoda
    Jan 18 '18 at 9:47











  • $begingroup$
    Shouldn't the integral in the chapman-kolomogrov function be over dt' as well? What about dW shouldn't it be $dW_t$?
    $endgroup$
    – 0x90
    Jan 20 '18 at 19:20










  • $begingroup$
    No to the first question, because what the C-K equation says is that at some time the particle must be at some point in our space. That is to say, pick an intermediate $t'$ and the particle must be somewhere, thus we integrate over all space, not time. Yes tot he second, I will correct this.
    $endgroup$
    – Takoda
    Feb 5 '18 at 8:58











  • $begingroup$
    on the RHS you have an expression with t'. On the LHS there is only t. Without integrating over t' the LHS has to have t'.
    $endgroup$
    – 0x90
    Feb 5 '18 at 11:54













3












3








3





$begingroup$

I will start by apologising for a physicist's level of rigor in the following derivations but I think they give good insight into the connection between what I would call stochastic physics' Trinity of Langevin, Fokker-Planck and Path integral.



Fokker-Planck from Langevin equation



Given a Langevin equation $dZ_t=b(Z_t)dt+sigma(Z_t)dW_t$ (the most common form found in physics) we can derive the Fokker-Planck equation from the Chapman-Kolmogorov equation in a quick and dirty way:



$$
p(y,t|x)=int dz, p(y,t|z)p(z,t'|x)
$$



We suppose that $t = delta t$ and thus we can write $$p(y,t|z) = leftlangle delta (y-z-h)rightrangle_h$$ where $h=delta Z$ is defined by the associated Langevin equation. Now we have



$$
p(y,t|x)=int dz, leftlangle delta (y-z-h)rightrangle_hp(z,t'|x),.tag$ast$
$$



We can then Taylor expand the delta function as



$$
left(1+leftlangle hrightrangle fracpartialpartial y +frac12leftlangle h^2rightrangle fracpartial^2partial y^2 +ldotsright)delta(y-z) = (1+mathscrL)delta(y-z),,
$$



then integrating by parts and the delta function we are left with



$$
p(y,t|x)=(1+mathscrL^dagger)p(y,t'|x),.
$$



Expanding $p(y,t|x)= p(y,t'|x) + fracpartialpartial tp(y,t'|x) + ldots$ in the limit $t rightarrow 0$ we arrive at the Fokker-Planck equation



$$
fracx)partial t=mathscrL^daggerp(y,t|x)
$$



relabelling $t'$ as $t$.



Path integral from Langevin



We apply the Chapman-Kolmogorov equation many times:



$$
p(y,t|x)=intprod_i=1^Ndz_i, p(y,t_N|z_N)ldots p(z_2,t_2|z_1)p(z_1,t_1|x)
$$



And then use $(ast)$ to replace each along with the identity $delta(x) = int dk exp(ikx)$ we get a sequence of averages over complex exponentials:



$$
p(y,t|x)=int Dz Dk, leftlangle e^ik_N(z_N-z_N-1-h_N)rightrangleldots leftlangle e^ik_2(z_2-z_1-h_2)rightrangle leftlangle e^ik_1(z_1-x-h_1)rightrangle
$$



however we can still do better. Knowing the probability distribution of $h$ (usually Gaussian in physics) we can write
$$
leftlangle O rightrangle = int dh P(h) O
$$
thus after replacing every averaged over exponential we get



$$
p(y,t|x)=int Dz Dk Dh, e^iint dt ,kdotz P[h_t]
$$



and when you perform the integrations over the paths of $k$ and $h$ you will get your path integral.



Path integral from Fokker-Planck



I am less sure about how to go about directly showing the equivalence without the presence of a Langevin equation. However if we create a Lagrangian by multiplying the F-P equation by an auxiliary field and then integrate over all paths of our probability density and our auxiliary field, I have a feeling this will work but I am not certain so I will leave my answer here.



The main point of this is to show that the path integral and the FP equation are essentially two different representations of the Chapman-Kolmogorov equation. As far as I can tell they are basically interchangeable and I hope someone more knowledgeable than myself can come in and explain why you would use one over the other in certain situations.



I hope this has been useful!






share|cite|improve this answer











$endgroup$



I will start by apologising for a physicist's level of rigor in the following derivations but I think they give good insight into the connection between what I would call stochastic physics' Trinity of Langevin, Fokker-Planck and Path integral.



Fokker-Planck from Langevin equation



Given a Langevin equation $dZ_t=b(Z_t)dt+sigma(Z_t)dW_t$ (the most common form found in physics) we can derive the Fokker-Planck equation from the Chapman-Kolmogorov equation in a quick and dirty way:



$$
p(y,t|x)=int dz, p(y,t|z)p(z,t'|x)
$$



We suppose that $t = delta t$ and thus we can write $$p(y,t|z) = leftlangle delta (y-z-h)rightrangle_h$$ where $h=delta Z$ is defined by the associated Langevin equation. Now we have



$$
p(y,t|x)=int dz, leftlangle delta (y-z-h)rightrangle_hp(z,t'|x),.tag$ast$
$$



We can then Taylor expand the delta function as



$$
left(1+leftlangle hrightrangle fracpartialpartial y +frac12leftlangle h^2rightrangle fracpartial^2partial y^2 +ldotsright)delta(y-z) = (1+mathscrL)delta(y-z),,
$$



then integrating by parts and the delta function we are left with



$$
p(y,t|x)=(1+mathscrL^dagger)p(y,t'|x),.
$$



Expanding $p(y,t|x)= p(y,t'|x) + fracpartialpartial tp(y,t'|x) + ldots$ in the limit $t rightarrow 0$ we arrive at the Fokker-Planck equation



$$
fracx)partial t=mathscrL^daggerp(y,t|x)
$$



relabelling $t'$ as $t$.



Path integral from Langevin



We apply the Chapman-Kolmogorov equation many times:



$$
p(y,t|x)=intprod_i=1^Ndz_i, p(y,t_N|z_N)ldots p(z_2,t_2|z_1)p(z_1,t_1|x)
$$



And then use $(ast)$ to replace each along with the identity $delta(x) = int dk exp(ikx)$ we get a sequence of averages over complex exponentials:



$$
p(y,t|x)=int Dz Dk, leftlangle e^ik_N(z_N-z_N-1-h_N)rightrangleldots leftlangle e^ik_2(z_2-z_1-h_2)rightrangle leftlangle e^ik_1(z_1-x-h_1)rightrangle
$$



however we can still do better. Knowing the probability distribution of $h$ (usually Gaussian in physics) we can write
$$
leftlangle O rightrangle = int dh P(h) O
$$
thus after replacing every averaged over exponential we get



$$
p(y,t|x)=int Dz Dk Dh, e^iint dt ,kdotz P[h_t]
$$



and when you perform the integrations over the paths of $k$ and $h$ you will get your path integral.



Path integral from Fokker-Planck



I am less sure about how to go about directly showing the equivalence without the presence of a Langevin equation. However if we create a Lagrangian by multiplying the F-P equation by an auxiliary field and then integrate over all paths of our probability density and our auxiliary field, I have a feeling this will work but I am not certain so I will leave my answer here.



The main point of this is to show that the path integral and the FP equation are essentially two different representations of the Chapman-Kolmogorov equation. As far as I can tell they are basically interchangeable and I hope someone more knowledgeable than myself can come in and explain why you would use one over the other in certain situations.



I hope this has been useful!







share|cite|improve this answer














share|cite|improve this answer



share|cite|improve this answer








edited Feb 5 '18 at 8:59

























answered Jan 17 '18 at 13:06









TakodaTakoda

615




615











  • $begingroup$
    Can you please define symbols and letters?
    $endgroup$
    – 0x90
    Jan 18 '18 at 3:01










  • $begingroup$
    Almost all symbols and letters used are standard notation. I'm assuming you are familiar with the propagator (little $p$). Big $P$ is the probability distribution of the generic random variable $O$ and in the context of the question would be the probability distribution of each step $h_i$ which in the continuum limit becomes a functional of the path $h_t$
    $endgroup$
    – Takoda
    Jan 18 '18 at 9:47











  • $begingroup$
    Shouldn't the integral in the chapman-kolomogrov function be over dt' as well? What about dW shouldn't it be $dW_t$?
    $endgroup$
    – 0x90
    Jan 20 '18 at 19:20










  • $begingroup$
    No to the first question, because what the C-K equation says is that at some time the particle must be at some point in our space. That is to say, pick an intermediate $t'$ and the particle must be somewhere, thus we integrate over all space, not time. Yes tot he second, I will correct this.
    $endgroup$
    – Takoda
    Feb 5 '18 at 8:58











  • $begingroup$
    on the RHS you have an expression with t'. On the LHS there is only t. Without integrating over t' the LHS has to have t'.
    $endgroup$
    – 0x90
    Feb 5 '18 at 11:54
















  • $begingroup$
    Can you please define symbols and letters?
    $endgroup$
    – 0x90
    Jan 18 '18 at 3:01










  • $begingroup$
    Almost all symbols and letters used are standard notation. I'm assuming you are familiar with the propagator (little $p$). Big $P$ is the probability distribution of the generic random variable $O$ and in the context of the question would be the probability distribution of each step $h_i$ which in the continuum limit becomes a functional of the path $h_t$
    $endgroup$
    – Takoda
    Jan 18 '18 at 9:47











  • $begingroup$
    Shouldn't the integral in the chapman-kolomogrov function be over dt' as well? What about dW shouldn't it be $dW_t$?
    $endgroup$
    – 0x90
    Jan 20 '18 at 19:20










  • $begingroup$
    No to the first question, because what the C-K equation says is that at some time the particle must be at some point in our space. That is to say, pick an intermediate $t'$ and the particle must be somewhere, thus we integrate over all space, not time. Yes tot he second, I will correct this.
    $endgroup$
    – Takoda
    Feb 5 '18 at 8:58











  • $begingroup$
    on the RHS you have an expression with t'. On the LHS there is only t. Without integrating over t' the LHS has to have t'.
    $endgroup$
    – 0x90
    Feb 5 '18 at 11:54















$begingroup$
Can you please define symbols and letters?
$endgroup$
– 0x90
Jan 18 '18 at 3:01




$begingroup$
Can you please define symbols and letters?
$endgroup$
– 0x90
Jan 18 '18 at 3:01












$begingroup$
Almost all symbols and letters used are standard notation. I'm assuming you are familiar with the propagator (little $p$). Big $P$ is the probability distribution of the generic random variable $O$ and in the context of the question would be the probability distribution of each step $h_i$ which in the continuum limit becomes a functional of the path $h_t$
$endgroup$
– Takoda
Jan 18 '18 at 9:47





$begingroup$
Almost all symbols and letters used are standard notation. I'm assuming you are familiar with the propagator (little $p$). Big $P$ is the probability distribution of the generic random variable $O$ and in the context of the question would be the probability distribution of each step $h_i$ which in the continuum limit becomes a functional of the path $h_t$
$endgroup$
– Takoda
Jan 18 '18 at 9:47













$begingroup$
Shouldn't the integral in the chapman-kolomogrov function be over dt' as well? What about dW shouldn't it be $dW_t$?
$endgroup$
– 0x90
Jan 20 '18 at 19:20




$begingroup$
Shouldn't the integral in the chapman-kolomogrov function be over dt' as well? What about dW shouldn't it be $dW_t$?
$endgroup$
– 0x90
Jan 20 '18 at 19:20












$begingroup$
No to the first question, because what the C-K equation says is that at some time the particle must be at some point in our space. That is to say, pick an intermediate $t'$ and the particle must be somewhere, thus we integrate over all space, not time. Yes tot he second, I will correct this.
$endgroup$
– Takoda
Feb 5 '18 at 8:58





$begingroup$
No to the first question, because what the C-K equation says is that at some time the particle must be at some point in our space. That is to say, pick an intermediate $t'$ and the particle must be somewhere, thus we integrate over all space, not time. Yes tot he second, I will correct this.
$endgroup$
– Takoda
Feb 5 '18 at 8:58













$begingroup$
on the RHS you have an expression with t'. On the LHS there is only t. Without integrating over t' the LHS has to have t'.
$endgroup$
– 0x90
Feb 5 '18 at 11:54




$begingroup$
on the RHS you have an expression with t'. On the LHS there is only t. Without integrating over t' the LHS has to have t'.
$endgroup$
– 0x90
Feb 5 '18 at 11:54

















draft saved

draft discarded
















































Thanks for contributing an answer to Mathematics Stack Exchange!


  • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

But avoid


  • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

  • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.

Use MathJax to format equations. MathJax reference.


To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




draft saved


draft discarded














StackExchange.ready(
function ()
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fmath.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f2424787%2fwhy-are-fokker-planck-equation-and-feynman-path-integral-formalisms-equivalent%23new-answer', 'question_page');

);

Post as a guest















Required, but never shown





















































Required, but never shown














Required, but never shown












Required, but never shown







Required, but never shown

































Required, but never shown














Required, but never shown












Required, but never shown







Required, but never shown







Popular posts from this blog

Solar Wings Breeze Design and development Specifications (Breeze) References Navigation menu1368-485X"Hang glider: Breeze (Solar Wings)"e

Kathakali Contents Etymology and nomenclature History Repertoire Songs and musical instruments Traditional plays Styles: Sampradayam Training centers and awards Relationship to other dance forms See also Notes References External links Navigation menueThe Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism: A-MSouth Asian Folklore: An EncyclopediaRoutledge International Encyclopedia of Women: Global Women's Issues and KnowledgeKathakali Dance-drama: Where Gods and Demons Come to PlayKathakali Dance-drama: Where Gods and Demons Come to PlayKathakali Dance-drama: Where Gods and Demons Come to Play10.1353/atj.2005.0004The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism: A-MEncyclopedia of HinduismKathakali Dance-drama: Where Gods and Demons Come to PlaySonic Liturgy: Ritual and Music in Hindu Tradition"The Mirror of Gesture"Kathakali Dance-drama: Where Gods and Demons Come to Play"Kathakali"Indian Theatre: Traditions of PerformanceIndian Theatre: Traditions of PerformanceIndian Theatre: Traditions of PerformanceIndian Theatre: Traditions of PerformanceMedieval Indian Literature: An AnthologyThe Oxford Companion to Indian TheatreSouth Asian Folklore: An Encyclopedia : Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri LankaThe Rise of Performance Studies: Rethinking Richard Schechner's Broad SpectrumIndian Theatre: Traditions of PerformanceModern Asian Theatre and Performance 1900-2000Critical Theory and PerformanceBetween Theater and AnthropologyKathakali603847011Indian Theatre: Traditions of PerformanceIndian Theatre: Traditions of PerformanceIndian Theatre: Traditions of PerformanceBetween Theater and AnthropologyBetween Theater and AnthropologyNambeesan Smaraka AwardsArchivedThe Cambridge Guide to TheatreRoutledge International Encyclopedia of Women: Global Women's Issues and KnowledgeThe Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: South Asia : the Indian subcontinentThe Ethos of Noh: Actors and Their Art10.2307/1145740By Means of Performance: Intercultural Studies of Theatre and Ritual10.1017/s204912550000100xReconceiving the Renaissance: A Critical ReaderPerformance TheoryListening to Theatre: The Aural Dimension of Beijing Opera10.2307/1146013Kathakali: The Art of the Non-WorldlyOn KathakaliKathakali, the dance theatreThe Kathakali Complex: Performance & StructureKathakali Dance-Drama: Where Gods and Demons Come to Play10.1093/obo/9780195399318-0071Drama and Ritual of Early Hinduism"In the Shadow of Hollywood Orientalism: Authentic East Indian Dancing"10.1080/08949460490274013Sanskrit Play Production in Ancient IndiaIndian Music: History and StructureBharata, the Nāṭyaśāstra233639306Table of Contents2238067286469807Dance In Indian Painting10.2307/32047833204783Kathakali Dance-Theatre: A Visual Narrative of Sacred Indian MimeIndian Classical Dance: The Renaissance and BeyondKathakali: an indigenous art-form of Keralaeee

Method to test if a number is a perfect power? Announcing the arrival of Valued Associate #679: Cesar Manara Planned maintenance scheduled April 23, 2019 at 00:00UTC (8:00pm US/Eastern)Detecting perfect squares faster than by extracting square rooteffective way to get the integer sequence A181392 from oeisA rarely mentioned fact about perfect powersHow many numbers such $n$ are there that $n<100,lfloorsqrtn rfloor mid n$Check perfect squareness by modulo division against multiple basesFor what pair of integers $(a,b)$ is $3^a + 7^b$ a perfect square.Do there exist any positive integers $n$ such that $lfloore^nrfloor$ is a perfect power? What is the probability that one exists?finding perfect power factors of an integerProve that the sequence contains a perfect square for any natural number $m $ in the domain of $f$ .Counting Perfect Powers