Towards a realistic parsing of the Feynman path integral

摘要

The Feynman path integral does not allow a "one real path" interpretation,because amplitudes contribute to probabilities in a non-separable manner. Theopposite extreme, "all paths happen", is not a useful or informative account.In this paper it is shown that an intermediate parsing of the path integral,into realistic non-interfering possibilities, is always available. Eachrealistic possibility formally corresponds to numerous particle paths, but isarguably best interpreted as a spacetime-valued field. Notably, one actualfield history can always be said to occur, although it will generally not havean extremized action. The most obvious concerns with this approach areaddressed, indicating necessary follow-up research. But without obviousshowstoppers, it seems plausible that the path integral might be reinterpretedto explain quantum phenomena in terms of Lorentz covariant field histories.