{
  "annotation_id": "17d93664-533a-49ad-947a-52d72e7b592e",
  "date_created": "2026-03-02T18:02:03.116000Z",
  "date_modified": "2026-03-02T18:02:03.116000Z",
  "file_hash": "e42c98c1238185361445e423b5a40dadd63aacaca260e58bff31f1495914de51",
  "private": false,
  "record": {
    "abstract": "The Wigner function W(q,p) is formulated as a phase-space path integral,\nwhereby its sign oscillations can be seen to follow from interference between\nthe geometrical phases of the paths. The approach has similarities to the\npath-centroid method in the configuration-space path integral. Paths can be\nclassified by the mid-point of their ends; short paths where the mid-point is\nclose to (q,p) and which lie in regions of low energy (low P function of the\nHamiltonian) will dominate, and the enclosed area will determine the sign of\nthe Wigner function. As a demonstration, the method is applied to a sequence of\ndensity matrices interpolating between a Poissonian number distribution and a\nnumber state, each member of which can be represented exactly by a discretized\npath integral with a finite number of vertices. Saddle point evaluation of\nthese integrals recovers (up to a constant factor) the WKB approximation to the\nWigner function of a number state.",
    "arxiv_id": "quant-ph/0308119",
    "authors": [
      "J. H. Samson"
    ],
    "categories": [
      "quant-ph"
    ],
    "doi": "10.1088/0305-4470/36/42/015",
    "journal_ref": "Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and General, 36, 10637 - 10650\n  (2003)",
    "title": "Phase-space path-integral calculation of the Wigner function",
    "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0308119"
  },
  "schema_id": "dorsal/arxiv",
  "source": {
    "execution_id": "aeedba02-e57f-4242-827e-e8cd8b021f36",
    "id": "arXiv Dataset IDs",
    "type": "Model",
    "variant": "snapshot-2026-03-01",
    "version": "0.1.0"
  },
  "user_id": 1000002
}