Functional integral for non-Lagrangian systems

Abstract

A novel functional integral formulation of quantum mechanics for non-Lagrangian systems is presented. The new approach, which we call "stringy quantization," is based solely on classical equations of motion and is free of any ambiguity arising from Lagrangian and/or Hamiltonian formulation of the theory. The functionality of the proposed method is demonstrated on several examples. Special attention is paid to the stringy quantization of systems with a general A-power friction force $-\kappa[\dot{q}]^A$. Results for $A = 1$ are compared with those obtained in the approaches by Caldirola-Kanai, Bateman and Kostin. Relations to the Caldeira-Leggett model and to the Feynman-Vernon approach are discussed as well.