FEYNMAN PATH-INTEGRAL FORMULATION OF QUANTUM-MECHANICAL TRANSITION-STATE THEORY

A Feynman path integral formulation of quantum mechanical transition-state theory is reviewed. The theory retains many of the appealing aspects of classical transition-state theory, including the most important feature of all-no knowledge of the dynamics of the system is necessary in order to estimate the thermally activated rate constant. As opposed to the classical theory, however, the path integral approach includes in a natural way the influence of quantum mechanical tunneling and mode quantization on the rate constant. Extensions of the theory and its applications to several condensed matter activated rate problems are also described.