RANDOM-WALKS, CONTINUUM LIMITS, AND SCHRODINGERS EQUATION

By considering the simple binary symmetric random walk on a discrete l attice in 1+1 dimensions, we show that the discrete analog of Schrodin ger's equation describes a simple counting problem involving the sampl e paths on the lattice. Schrodinger's equation is obtained in the cont inuum limit with the result that this equation is confirmed to have a classical as well as a quantum context.