Semiclassical partition function for the double-well potential

Abstract

We compute the partition function and specific heat for a quantum-mechanical particle under the influence of a quartic double-well potential nonperturbatively, using the semiclassical method. Near the region of bounded motion in the inverted potential, the usual quadratic approximation fails due to the existence of multiple classical solutions and caustics. Using the tools of catastrophe theory, we identify the relevant classical solutions, showing that at most two have to be considered. This corresponds to the first step towards the study of spontaneous symmetry breaking and thermal phase transitions in the nonperturbative framework of the boundary effective theory.