The semiclassical propagator for spin coherent states

We use a continuous-time path integral to obtain the semiclassical propagat or for minimal-spread spin coherent states. We pay particular attention to the "extra phase" discovered by Solari and Kochetov, and show that this cor rection is related to an anomaly in the fluctuation determinant. We show th at, once this extra factor is included, the semiclassical propagator has th e correct short time behavior to O(T-2), and demonstrate its consistency un der dissection of the path. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0022- 2488(00)01412-2].