Classical and quantum effective theories

Abstract

A generalization of the action principle of classical mechanics, motivated by the Closed Time Path (CTP) scheme of quantum field theory, is presented to deal with initial condition problems and dissipative forces. The similarities of the classical and the quantum cases are underlined. In particular, effective interactions which describe classical dissipative forces represent the system-environment entanglement. The relation between the traditional effective theories and their CTP extension is briefly discussed and few qualitative examples are mentioned.