We propose an efficient path integral scheme for calculating the quantum dynamics of an arbitrary one‐dimensional system coupled nonlinearly to many anharmonic noninteracting ‘‘bath’’ degrees of freedom. The starting point is an improved discretization of the path integral in terms of numerically constructed propagators [Chem. Phys. Lett. 193, 435 (1992)]. The resulting influence functional is comprised of one‐dimensional correlation functions with step‐structured time‐dependent potentials and therefore is similar in structure to that employed in the spin‐boson calculations of Coalson [J. Chem. Phys. 86, 995 (1987)]. In the present case, though, the influence functional is nonlinear and is computed using numerical iterative wave function propagation methods. Numerical tests on a system coupled to ten anharmonic oscillators demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed scheme, which requires numerical effort that scales only linearly with the number of anharmonic bath degrees of freedom.

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