Mean-field approximation for inclusive observables

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Abstract
The excitation of a many-body system by a one-body perturbation is considered. The stationary phase approximation to a functional-integral representation of the many-body evolution operator shows that the optimal mean field for describing the final expectation values of one- and two-body operators is that given by the time-dependent Hartree-Fock method. The forced Lipkin model is considered as a test of the mean-field approximation.