In a remarkable development Bender and coworkers have shown that it is possible to formulate quantum mechanics consistently even if the Hamiltonian and other observables are not Hermitian. Their formulation, dubbed PT quantum mechanics, replaces hermiticity by another set of requirements, notably that the Hamiltonian should be invariant under the discrete symmetry PT, where P denotes parity and T denotes time reversal. All prior work has focused on the case that time reversal is even (T^2 = 1). We generalize the formalism to the case of odd time reversal (T^2 = -1). We discover an analogue of Kramer's theorem for PT quantum mechanics, present a prototypical example of a PT quantum system with odd time reversal, and discuss potential applications of the formalism. Odd time reversal symmetry applies to fermionic systems including quarks and leptons and a plethora of models in nuclear, atomic and condensed matter physics. PT quantum mechanics makes it possible to enlarge the set of possible Hamiltonians that physicists could deploy to describe fundamental physics beyond the standard model or for the effective description of condensed matter phenomena.
A harmonic oscillator Hamiltonian augmented by a non-Hermitian \pt-symmetric part and its su(1,1) generalizations, for which a family of positive-definite metric operators was recently constructed, are re-examined in a supersymmetric context. Quasi-Hermitian supersymmetric extensions of such Hamiltonians are proposed by enlarging su(1,1) to a ${\rm su}(1,1/1) \sim {\rm osp}(2/2, \R)$ superalgebra. This allows the construction of new non-Hermitian Hamiltonians related by similarity to Hermitian ones. Some examples of them are reviewed.
Potential algebras are extended from Hermitian to non-Hermitian Hamiltonians and shown to provide an elegant method for studying the transition from real to complex eigenvalues for a class of non-Hermitian Hamiltonians associated with the complex Lie algebra A$_1$.
We introduce the notion of pseudo-Hermiticity and show that every Hamiltonian with a real spectrum is pseudo-Hermitian. We point out that all the PT-symmetric non-Hermitian Hamiltonians studied in the literature belong to the class of pseudo-Hermitian Hamiltonians, and argue that the basic structure responsible for the particular spectral properties of these Hamiltonians is their pseudo-Hermiticity. We explore the basic properties of general pseudo-Hermitian Hamiltonians, develop pseudo-supersymmetric quantum mechanics, and study some concrete examples, namely the Hamiltonian of the two-compon…
We give a necessary and sufficient condition for the reality of the spectrum of a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian admitting a complete set of biorthonormal eigenvectors.
Using the method of point canonical transformation, we derive some exactly solvable rationally extended quantum Hamiltonians which are non-Hermitian in nature and whose bound state wave functions are associated with Laguerre- or Jacobi-type $X_1$ exceptional orthogonal polynomials. These Hamiltonians are shown, with the help of imaginary shift of co-ordinate: $ e^{-αp} x e^{αp} = x+ i α$, to be both quasi and pseudo-Hermitian. It turns out that the corresponding energy spectra is entirely real.
In this letter we will use higher-order supersymmetric quantum mechanics to obtain several families of complex solutions of the Painleve IV equation with real parameters. We shall also study the algebraic structure, the eigenfunctions and the energy spectra of the corresponding non-hermitian Hamiltonians.
A generalized non-Hermitian oscillator Hamiltonian is proposed that consists of additional linear terms which break PT-symmetry explicitly. The model is put into an equivalent Hermitian form by means of a similarity transformation and the criterion of N-fold supersymmetry with a position-dependent mass is shown to reside in it.
We show that complex Lie algebras (in particular sl(2,C)) provide us with an elegant method for studying the transition from real to complex eigenvalues of a class of non-Hermitian Hamiltonians: complexified Scarf II, generalized Pöschl-Teller, and Morse. The characterizations of these Hamiltonians under the so-called pseudo-Hermiticity are also discussed.
In a recent paper Jones and Mateo used operator techniques to show that the non-Hermitian $\cP\cT$-symmetric wrong-sign quartic Hamiltonian $H=\half p^2-gx^4$ has the same spectrum as the conventional Hermitian Hamiltonian $\tilde H=\half p^2+4g x^4-\sqrt{2g} x$. Here, this equivalence is demonstrated very simply by means of differential-equation techniques and, more importantly, by means of functional-integration techniques. It is shown that the linear term in the Hermitian Hamiltonian is anomalous; that is, this linear term has no classical analog. The anomaly arises because of the broken pa…
Recently Bender, Brody, Jones and Meister found that in the quantum brachistochrone problem the passage time needed for the evolution of certain initial states into specified final states can be made arbitrarily small, when the time-evolution operator is taken to be non-Hermitian but PT-symmetric. Here we demonstrate that such phenomena can also be obtained for non-Hermitian Hamiltonians for which PT-symmetry is completely broken, i.e. dissipative systems. We observe that the effect of a tunable passage time can be achieved by projecting between orthogonal eigenstates by means of a time-evolut…
The eigenvalue problem of the spherically symmetric oscillator Hamiltonian is revisited in the context of canonical raising and lowering operators. The Hamiltonian is then factorized in terms of two not mutually adjoint factorizing operators which, in turn, give rise to a non-Hermitian radial Hamiltonian. The set of eigenvalues of this new Hamiltonian is exactly the same as the energy spectrum of the radial oscillator and the new square-integrable eigenfunctions are complex Darboux-deformations of the associated Laguerre polynomials.
Using techniques of supersymmetric quantum mechanics, scattering properties of Hermitian Hamiltonians, which are related to non-Hermitian ones by similarity transformations, are studied. We have found that the scattering matrix of the Hermitian Hamiltonian coincides with the phase factor of the non-unitary scattering matrix of the non-Hermitian Hamiltonian. The possible presence of a spectral singularity in a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian translates into a pronounced resonance in the scattering cross section of its Hermitian counterpart. This opens a way for detecting spectral singularities in sca…
We discuss the dynamical quantum systems which turn out to be bi-unitary with respect to the same alternative Hermitian structures in a infinite-dimensional complex Hilbert space. We give a necessary and sufficient condition so that the Hermitian structures are in generic position. Finally the transformations of the bi-unitary group are explicitly obtained.
We present a large class of non-Hermitian non-PT-symmetric two-component Dirac Hamiltoninas with real energy spectra. These Hamiltonians are invariant under the combined action of "charge" conjugation (two-component transpose) and space-parity. Examples are given from the two subclasses of these systems having localized and/or continuum states with real energies.
We analyse a class of non-Hermitian Hamiltonians, which can be expressed bilinearly in terms of generators of a sl(2,R)-Lie algebra or their isomorphic su(1,1)-counterparts. The Hamlitonians are prototypes for solvable models of Lie algebraic type. Demanding a real spectrum and the existence of a well defined metric, we systematically investigate the constraints these requirements impose on the coupling constants of the model and the parameters in the metric operator. We compute isospectral Hermitian counterparts for some of the original non-Hermitian Hamiltonian. Alternatively we employ a gen…
The family of metric operators, constructed by Musumbu {\sl et al} (2007 {\sl J. Phys. A: Math. Theor.} {\bf 40} F75), for a harmonic oscillator Hamiltonian augmented by a non-Hermitian $\cal PT$-symmetric part, is re-examined in the light of an su(1,1) approach. An alternative derivation, only relying on properties of su(1,1) generators, is proposed. Being independent of the realization considered for the latter, it opens the way towards the construction of generalized non-Hermitian (not necessarily $\cal PT$-symmetric) oscillator Hamiltonians related by similarity to Hermitian ones. Some exa…
The Dirac Hamiltonian in the (2+1) dimensional curved space-time has been studied with a metric for an expanding de Sitter space-time which is a two sphere. The spectrum and the exact solutions of the time dependent non-Hermitian and angle dependent Hamiltonians are obtained in terms of the Jacobi and Romanovski polynomials. Hermitian equivalent of the Hamiltonian obtained from the Dirac equation is discussed in the frame of pseudo-Hermiticity. Furthermore, pseudo-supersymmetric quantum mechanical techniques are expanded to a curved Dirac Hamiltonian and a partner curved Dirac Hamiltonian is g…
For an arbitrary possibly non-Hermitian matrix Hamiltonian H, that might involve exceptional points, we construct an appropriate parameter space M and the lines bundle L^n over M such that the adiabatic geometric phases associated with the eigenstates of the initial Hamiltonian coincide with the holonomies of L^n. We examine the case of 2 x 2 matrix Hamiltonians in detail and show that, contrary to claims made in some recent publications, geometric phases arising from encircling exceptional points are generally geometrical and not topological in nature.
By modifying and generalizing known supersymmetric models we are able to find four different sets of one-dimensional Hamiltonians for the inverted harmonic oscillator. The first set of Hamiltonians is derived by extending the supersymmetric quantum mechanics with reflections to non-Hermitian supercharges. The second set is obtained by generalizing the supersymmetric quantum mechanics valid for non-Hermitian supercharges with the Dunkl derivative instead of $\frac{d}{dx}$. Also, by changing the derivative $\frac{d}{dx}$ by the Dunkl derivative in the creation and annihilation-type operators of …
We introduce, for the first time, bicoherent-state path integration as a method for quantizing non-hermitian systems. Bicoherent-state path integrals arise as a natural generalization of ordinary coherent-state path integrals, familiar from hermitian quantum physics. We do all this by working out a concrete example, namely, computation of the propagator of a certain quasi-hermitian variant of Swanson's model, which is not invariant under conventional $PT$-transformation. The resulting propagator coincides with that of the propagator of the standard harmonic oscillator, which is isospectral wit…
We show that a quantum system possessing an exact antilinear symmetry, in particular PT-symmetry, is equivalent to a quantum system having a Hermitian Hamiltonian. We construct the unitary operator relating an arbitrary non-Hermitian Hamiltonian with exact PT-symmetry to a Hermitian Hamiltonian. We apply our general results to PT-symmetry in finite-dimensions and give the explicit form of the above-mentioned unitary operator and Hermitian Hamiltonian in two dimensions. Our findings lead to the conjecture that non-Hermitian CPT-symmetric field theories are equivalent to certain nonlocal Hermiti…
This part is a continuation of the Part I where we built resolutions of identity for certain non-Hermitian Hamiltonians constructed of biorthogonal sets of their eigen- and associated functions for the spectral problem defined on entire axis. Non-Hermitian Hamiltonians under consideration are taken with continuous spectrum and the following cases are examined: an exceptional point of arbitrary multiplicity situated on a boundary of continuous spectrum and an exceptional point situated inside of continuous spectrum. In the present work the rigorous proofs are given for the resolutions of identi…
In this talk I present a simple and unified approach to both exact and quasi-exact solvabilities of the one-dimensional Schrödinger equation. It is based on the prepotential together with Bethe ansatz equations. This approach gives the potential as well as the eigenfunctions and eigenvalues simultaneously. In this approach the system is completely defined by the choice of the change of variables, and the so-called zero-th order prepotential. We illustrate the approach by several examples of Hermitian and non-Hermitian Hamiltonians with real energies. The method can be easily extended to the co…
Nonrelativistic quantum mechanics and conformal quantum mechanics are deformed through a Jordanian twist. The deformed space coordinates satisfy the Snyder noncommutativity. The resulting deformed Hamiltonians are pseudo-Hermitian Hamiltonians of the type discussed by Mostafazadeh. The quantization scheme makes use of the so-called "unfolded formalism" discussed in previous works. A Hopf algebra structure, compatible with the physical interpretation of the coproduct, is introduced for the Universal Enveloping Algebra of a suitably chosen dynamical Lie algebra (the Hamiltonian is contained amon…
The Heisenberg picture for non-Hermitian but $η$-pseudo-Hermitian Hamiltonian systems is suggested. If a non-Hermitian but $η$-pseudo-Hermitian Hamiltonian leads to real second order equations of motion, though their first order Heisenberg equations of motion are complex, we can construct a Hermitian counterpart that gives the same second order equations of motion. In terms of a similarity transformation we verify the iso-spectral property of the Hermitian and non-Hermitian Hamiltonians and obtain the related eigenfunctions. This feature can be used to determine real eigenvalues for such non-H…
It is shown that for a given Hermitian Hamiltonian possessing supersymmetry, there is alwayas a non-hermitian Jaynes-Cummings-type Hamiltonian(JCTH) admitting entirely real spectra. The parent supersymmetric Hamiltonian and the corresponding non-hermitian JCTH are simultaneously diagonalizable. The exact eigenstates of these non-hermitian Hamiltonians are constructed algebraically for certain shape-invariant potentials, including a non-hermitian version of the standard Jaynes-Cummings model for which the parent supersymmetric Hamiltonian is the superoscillator. The positive-definite metric ope…
We examine the completeness of bi-orthogonal sets of eigenfunctions for non-Hermitian Hamiltonians possessing a spectral singularity. The correct resolutions of identity are constructed for delta like and smooth potentials. Their form and the contribution of a spectral singularity depend on the class of functions employed for physical states. With this specification there is no obstruction to completeness originating from a spectral singularity.
The recently introduced by us two- and three-parameter ($p,q$)- and ($p,q,μ$)-deformed extensions of the Heisenberg algebra were explored under the condition of their direct link with the respective (nonstandard) deformed quantum oscillator algebras. In this paper we explore certain Hermitian Hamiltonian build in terms of non-Hermitian position and momentum operators obeying definite $η(N)$-pseudo-Hermiticity properties. A generalized nonlinear (with the coefficients depending on the excitation number operator $N$) one-mode Bogolyubov transformation is developed as main tool for the correspond…
The coupling of non-Hermitian PT-symmetric Hamiltonians to standard Hermitian Hamiltonians, each of which individually has a real energy spectrum, is explored by means of a number of soluble models. It is found that in all cases the energy remains real for small values of the coupling constant, but becomes complex if the coupling becomes stronger than some critical value. For a quadratic non-Hermitian PT-symmetric Hamiltonian coupled to an arbitrary real Hermitian PT-symmetric Hamiltonian, the reality of the ground-state energy for small enough coupling constant is established up to second ord…
Consider the set of all Hamiltonians whose largest and smallest energy eigenvalues, E_max and E_min, differ by a fixed energy ω. Given two quantum states, an initial state |ψ_I> and a final state |ψ_F>, there exist many Hamiltonians H belonging to this set under which |ψ_I> evolves in time into |ψ_F>. Which Hamiltonian transforms the initial state to the final state in the least possible time τ? For Hermitian Hamiltonians, $τ$ has a nonzero lower bound. However, among complex non-Hermitian PT-symmetric Hamiltonians satisfying the same energy constraint, τcan be made arbitrarily small without v…
This paper builds on our earlier proposal for construction of a positive inner product for pseudo-Hermitian Hamiltonians and we give several examples to clarify our method. We show through the example of the harmonic oscillator how our construction applies equally well to Hermitian Hamiltonians which form a subset of pseudo-Hermitian systems. For finite dimensional pseudo-Hermitian matrix Hamiltonians we construct the positive inner product (in the case of $2\times 2$ matrices for both real as well as complex eigenvalues). When the quantum mechanical system cannot be diagonalized exactly, our …
Supersymmetric solution of PT-/non-PT-symmetric and non-Hermitian Morse potential is studied to get real and complex-valued energy eigenvalues and corresponding wave functions. Hamiltonian Hierarchy method is used in the calculations
We study complex potentials and related non-diagonalizable Hamiltonians with special emphasis on formal definitions of associated functions and Jordan cells. The nonlinear SUSY for complex potentials is considered and the theorems characterizing its structure are presented. We present the class of potentials invariant under SUSY transformations for non-diagonalizable Hamiltonians and formulate several results concerning the properties of associated functions . We comment on the applicability of these results for softly non-Hermitian PT-symmetric Hamiltonians. The role of SUSY (Darboux) transfo…
We consider QM with non-Hermitian quasi-diagonalizable Hamiltonians, i.e. the Hamiltonians having a number of Jordan cells in particular biorthogonal bases. The "self-orthogonality" phenomenon is clarified in terms of a correct spectral decomposition and it is shown that "self-orthogonal" states never jeopardize resolution of identity and thereby quantum averages of observables. The example of a complex potential leading to one Jordan cell in the Hamiltonian is constructed and its origin from level coalescence is elucidated. Some puzzles with zero-binorm bound states in continuous spectrum are…
Deformations of the canonical commutation relations lead to non-Hermitian momentum and position operators and therefore almost inevitably to non-Hermitian Hamiltonians. We demonstrate that such type of deformed quantum mechanical systems may be treated in a similar framework as quasi/pseudo and/or PT-symmetric systems, which have recently attracted much attention. For a newly proposed deformation of exponential type we compute the minimal uncertainty and minimal length, which are essential in almost all approaches to quantum gravity.
A non-Hermitian Hamiltonian that has an unbroken PT symmetry can be converted by means of a similarity transformation to a physically equivalent Hermitian Hamiltonian. This raises the following question: In which form of the quantum theory, the non-Hermitian or the Hermitian one, is it easier to perform calculations? This paper compares both forms of a non-Hermitian $ix^3$ quantum-mechanical Hamiltonian and demonstrates that it is much harder to perform calculations in the Hermitian theory because the perturbation series for the Hermitian Hamiltonian is constructed from divergent Feynman graph…
A possible method to investigate non-Hermitian Hamiltonians is suggested through finding a Hermitian operator $η_+$ and defining the annihilation and creation operators to be $η_+$-pseudo-Hermitian adjoint to each other. The operator $η_+$ represents the $η_+$-pseudo-Hermiticity of Hamiltonians. As an example, a non-Hermitian and non-$PT$-symmetric Hamiltonian with imaginary linear coordinate and linear momentum terms is constructed and analyzed in detail. The operator $η_+$ is found, based on which, a real spectrum and a positive-definite inner product, together with the probability explanati…
This paper investigates the thermodynamics of a large class of non-Hermitian, $PT$-symmetric oscillators, whose energy spectrum is entirely real. The spectrum is estimated by second-order WKB approximation, which turns out to be very accurate even for small quantum numbers, and used to generate the quantum partition function. Graphs showing the thermal behavior of the entropy and the specific heat, at all regimes of temperature, are given. To obtain the corresponding classical partition function it turns out to be necessary in general to integrate over a complex "phase space". For the wrong-si…
We address the problem of coupling non-Hermitian systems, treated as fundamental rather than effective theories, to the electromagnetic field. In such theories the observables are not the $\bs{x}$ and $\bs{p}$ appearing in the Hamiltonian, but quantities $\bs{X}$ and $\bs{P}$ constructed by means of the metric operator. Following the analogous procedure of gauging a global symmetry in Hermitian quantum mechanics we find that the corresponding gauge transformation in $\bs{X}$ implies minimal substitution in the form $\bs{P}\to \bs{P} - e\bs{A}(\bs{X})$. We discuss how the relevant matrix elemen…
Two Non-Hermitian fermion models are proposed and analyzed by using Foldy-Wouthuysen transformations. One model has Lorentz symmetry breaking and the other has a non-Hermitian mass term. It is shown that each model has real energies in a given region of parameter space, where they have a locally conserved current.
The potential -x^4, which is unbounded below on the real line, can give rise to a well-posed bound state problem when x is taken on a contour in the lower-half complex plane. It is then PT-symmetric rather than Hermitian. Nonetheless it has been shown numerically to have a real spectrum, and a proof of reality, involving the correspondence between ordinary differential equations and integral systems, was subsequently constructed for the general class of potentials -(ix)^N. For PT-symmetric but non-Hermitian Hamiltonians the natural PT metric is not positive definite, but a dynamically-defined …
The energy eigenvalues of the class of non-Hermitian PT-symmetric Hamiltonians $H=p^2+x^2(ix)^ε$ ($ε\geq0$) are real, positive, and discrete. The behavior of these eigenvalues has been studied perturbatively for small $ε$. However, until now no other features of $H$ have been examined perturbatively. In this paper the small-$ε$ expansion of the C operator and the equivalent isospectral Dirac-Hermitian Hamiltonian $h$ are derived.
We study a diagonalizable Hamiltonian that is not at first hermitian. Requirement that a measurement shall not change one Hamiltonian eigenstate into another one with a different eigenvalue imposes that an inner product must be defined so as to make the Hamiltonian normal with regard to it. After a long time development with the non-hermitian Hamiltonian, only a subspace of possible states will effectively survive. On this subspace the effect of the anti-hermitian part of the Hamiltonian is suppressed, and the Hamiltonian becomes hermitian. Thus hermiticity emerges automatically, and we have n…
We explore an alternative way of finding the link between a PT non-Hermitian Hamiltonian and a Hermitian one. Based on the analysis of the scattering problem for an imaginary potential and its time reversal process, it is shown that any real-energy eigenstate of a PT tight-binding lattice with on-site imaginary potentials shares the same wave function with a resonant transmission state of the corresponding Hermitian lattice embedded in a chain. It indicates that the PT eigenstate of a PT non-Hermitian Hamiltonian has connection to the resonance transmission state of the extended Hermitian Hami…
Previous $λ$-deformed {\it non-Hermitian} Hamiltonians with respect to the usual scalar product of Hilbert spaces dealing with harmonic oscillator-like developments are (re)considered with respect to a new scalar product in order to take into account their property of self-adjointness. The corresponding deformed $λ$-states lead to new families of coherent states according to the DOCS, AOCS and MUCS points of view.
We demonstrate that quantum fluctuations can cause, under certain conditions, the dynamical instability of pure states that can result in their evolution into mixed states. It is shown that the degree and type of such an instability are controlled by the environment-induced anti-Hermitian parts of Hamiltonians. Using the quantum-statistical approach for non-Hermitian Hamiltonians and related non-linear master equation, we derive the equations that are necessary to study the stability properties of any model described by a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian. It turns out that the instability of pure sta…
We generalized a class of non-Hermitian Hamiltonians which introduced previously by us in such a way in which every member in the class is non-\textit{PT}-symmetric. For every member of the class, the ground state is a constant with zero energy eigen value. Instead of using an infinite set of coupled operator equations to calculate the metric operator we used a simple realization to obtain the class of closed form metric operators corresponding to the class of non-Hermitian and non-\textit{PT}-symmetric Hamiltonians introduced. The trick is that, if $ψ$ is an eigen function of $H$, then $ϕ=ηψ$…
A consistent physical theory of quantum mechanics can be built on a complex Hamiltonian that is not Hermitian but instead satisfies the physical condition of space-time reflection symmetry (PT symmetry). Thus, there are infinitely many new Hamiltonians that one can construct that might explain experimental data. One would think that a quantum theory based on a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian violates unitarity. However, if PT symmetry is not broken, it is possible to use a previously unnoticed physical symmetry of the Hamiltonian to construct an inner product whose associated norm is positive defini…
A stable physical system has an energy spectrum that is bounded from below. For quantum systems, the dangerous states of unboundedly low energies should decouple and become null. We propose the principle of nullness and apply it to the bootstrap study of Hermitian and non-Hermitian anharmonic oscillators.
The requirement of Hermiticity of a Quantum Mechanical Hamiltonian, for the description of physical processes with real eigenvalues which has been challenged notably by Carl Bender, is examined for the case of a Fock space Hamilitonian which is bilinear in two creation and destruction operators. An interpretation of this model as a Schrödinger operator leads to an identification of the Hermitian form of the Hamiltonian as the Landau model of a charged particle in a plane, interacting with a constant magnetic field at right angles to the plane. When the parameters of the Hamiltonian are suitabl…
