Remarks on the Origin of Path Integration: Einstein and Feynman

TL;DR

This paper explores the historical development of Feynman's path integral approach, emphasizing Einstein's critique of classical field theory and its influence on Feynman's formulation of quantum mechanics.

Contribution

It provides a historical analysis of the interaction between Einstein and Feynman, highlighting the critique of classical field theory as a catalyst for Feynman's space-time approach.

Findings

Einstein's critique focused on classical field theory rather than quantum mechanics.

Feynman's approach was motivated by critiques of classical field theory.

Historical context clarifies the origins of the path integral formulation.

Abstract

I offer some historical comments about the origins of Feynman's path integral approach, as an alternative approach to standard quantum mechanics. Looking at the interaction between Einstein and Feynman, which was mediated by Feynman's thesis supervisor John Wheeler, it is argued that, contrary to what one might expect, the significance of the interaction between Einstein and Feynman pertained to a critique of classical field theory, rather than to a direct critique of quantum mechanics itself. Nevertheless, the critical perspective on classical field theory became a motivation and point of departure for Feynman's space-time approach to non-relativistic quantum mechanics.