The connection with statistical mechanics follows. Considering only paths that begin and end in the same configuration, perform the Wick rotation it = ħβ, i.e., make time imaginary, and integrate over all possible beginning-ending configurations. The Wick-rotated path integral—described in the previous subsection, with the ordinary action replaced by its "Euclidean" counterpart—now resembles the partition function of statistical mechanics defined in a canonical ensemble with inverse temperature proportional to imaginary time, ⁠ 1 / T ⁠ = ⁠ i k B t / ħ ⁠. Strictly speaking, though, this is the partition function for a statistical field theory.