A probabilistic approach to semi-classical approximations

We study in this paper the semi-classical expansion of the Schrodinger equation, using a probabilistic approach based on the Wiener measure. Using almost-analytic extensions, we exhibit a probabilistic ansatz for the wave function. We show that this ansatz approximates very well the wave function in the semiclassical regime, and gives the semi-classical expansion under mild hypothesis on the potential at infinity, and no analyticity conditions. In this paper, the study takes place before the caustics. (C) 1996 Academic Press, Inc.