The Topological Particle and Morse Theory

Abstract

Canonical BRST quantization of the topological particle defined by a Morse function h is described. Stochastic calculus, using Brownian paths which implement the WKB method in a new way providing rigorous tunnelling results even in curved space, is used to give an explicit and simple expression for the matrix elements of the evolution operator for the BRST Hamiltonian. These matrix elements lead to a representation of the manifold cohomology in terms of critical points of h along lines developed by Witten.