CMIT:Tangent Tuesdays talk by Saad Moquim on 7th oct 2025

Title- Functional methods in quantum mechanics
Speaker- Saad Moquim (BSMS 22, interned at IMSc Chennai)
Date- 7th October 2025 (Tuesday) | 9 pm
Venue- MSB410

Abstract- Functional methods in quantum mechanics provide an alternative to the operator formalism by formulating dynamics through propagators. In this framework, quantum amplitudes arise from the weighted contribution of all possible trajectories, linking classical action principles to quantum evolution. What makes this functional formulation stand out is that it relies on the Lagrangian, which is naturally expressed in configuration space - in terms of positions and velocities. Unlike phase space, where one can employ geometric quantisation, configuration space lacks a natural symplectic structure. Yet, remarkably, this framework still yields a complete quantum description of the system through the sum over histories.