Path integrals, boson expansions and the time dependent mean-field approximations

We present a general method of constructing path integrals for the nuclear many-body problem, using continuous and overcomplete sets of vectors in the Hilbert space. These path integrals offer a convenient tool for quantizing time dependent self-consistent fields arising from the time dependent Hartree or Hartree-Fock approximations. Quantization proceeds through the introduction of boson degrees of freedom which naturally emerge from the formalism. (orig.)