Heat kernel: proper time method, Fock-Schwinger gauge, path integral representation, and Wilson line

Abstract: The proper time method plays an important role in modern mathematics and physics. It includes many approaches, each of which has its pros and cons. This work is devoted to the description of one model case, which reflects the subtleties of construction and can be extended to a more general cases (curved space, manifold with boundary), and contains two interrelated parts: asymptotic expansion and path intergal representation. The paper discusses in details the importance of gauge conditions and role of the ordered exponentials, gives the proof of a new non-recursive formula for the Seeley-DeWitt coefficients on the diagonal, as well as the equivalence of the two main approaches using the exponential formula.