Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-theoretical-physics-ii-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2012/paper-1/5/a/solution

Split the time-evolution operator into factors with , and insert position completeness relations between them. Each factor is evaluated by inserting momentum states normalized by :
Multiplying the kernels and integrating the intermediate positions produces the stated time-sliced path integral, including its normalization power. For a free particle this Gaussian short-time kernel is exact, so the convolution identity already holds at finite . Oscillatory integrals are defined with a vanishing convergence regulator, consistently fixing the square-root phase.

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