Path integral quantization of a spinning particle

Abstract

Following the idea of Alekseev and Shatashvili we derive the path integral quantization of a modified relativistic particle action that results in the Feynman propagator of a free field with arbitrary spin. This propagator can be associated with the Duffin, Kemmer, and Petiau (DKP) form of a free field theory. We show explicitly that the obtained DKP propagator is equivalent to the standard one, for spins 0 and 1. We argue that this equivalence holds also for higher spins.