Extended quantum mechanics using non-Hermitian, pseudo-Hermitian Hamiltonians is briefly reviewed. Supersymmetric regularizations, solvable simulations and large-N expansion techniques are recollected as suitable means for the study of non-local quasi-particles. Their many-particle or even, perhaps, unstable and decaying generalizations are also considered. Picking up the Klein-Gordon equation and its Feshbach-Villars' Hamiltonian for definiteness, we argue that the PT symmetry might help to clarify experimental aspects of relativistic quantum mechanics.
In this paper we develop a discussion about PT Symmetric Quantum Mechanics, working with basics elements of this theory. In a simple case of two body system, we developed the Quantum Brachistochrone problem. Comparing the results obtained through the PT Symmetric Quantum Mechanics with that ones obtained using the standard formalism, we conclude that this new approach is not able to reveal any new effect.
We suggest a general ansatz for the energy-eigenstates when a complex one-dimensional PT-symmetric potential possesses real discrete spectrum. Several interesting features of PT-symmetric quantum mechanics have been brought out using this ansatz.
The pure state space of Quantum Mechanics is investigated as Hermitian Symmetric Kaehler manifold. The classical principles of Quantum Mechanics (Quantum Superposition Principle, Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, Quantum Probability Principle) and Spectral Theory of observables are discussed in this non linear geometrical context.
The physical condition that the expectation values of physical observables are real quantities is used to give a precise formulation of PT-symmetric quantum mechanics. A mathematically rigorous proof is given to establish the physical equivalence of PT-symmetric and conventional quantum mechanics. The results reported in this paper apply to arbitrary PT-symmetric Hamiltonians with a real and discrete spectrum. They hold regardless of whether the boundary conditions defining the spectrum of the Hamiltonian are given on the real line or a complex contour.
Using the Nikiforov Uvarov method, we obtained the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the Woods Saxon potential with the negative energy levels based on the mathematical approach. According to the PT Symmetric quantum mechanics, we exactly solved the time independent Shcrodinger equation for the same potential. Results are obtained for the s states.
In this article, we discussed certain properties of non-Hermitian $\CP$-symmetry Hamiltonian, and it is shown that a consistent physical theory of quantum mechanics can be built on a ${\cal C} \CP$-symmetry Hamiltonian. In particular, we show that these theories have unitary time evolution, and conservation probability. Furthermore, transition from quantum mechanics to classical mechanics is investigate and it is found that the Ehrenfest theorem is satisfied.
The recently proposed PT-symmetric quantum mechanics works with complex potentials which possess, roughly speaking, a symmetric real part and an anti-symmetric imaginary part. We propose and describe a new exactly solvable model of this type. It is defined as a specific analytic continuation of the shape-invariant potential of Morse. In contrast to the latter well-known example, all the new spectrum proves real, discrete and bounded below. All its three separate subsequences are quadratic in n.
Unitary evolution in PT-symmetric quantum mechanics with a time-dependent metric is found to yield a new class of adiabatic processes. As an explicit example, a Berry-like phase associated with a PT-symmetric two-level system is derived and interpreted as the flux of a fictitious monopole with a tunable charge plus a singular string component with non-trivial phase contributions. The Hermitian analog of our results is also discussed.
The supersymmetric solutions of PT-/non-PT-symmetric and non-Hermitian deformed Morse and Pöschl-Teller potentials are obtained by solving the Schrödinger equation. The Hamiltonian hierarchy method is used to get the real energy eigenvalues and corresponding eigenfunctions. \newline {PACS:05.20.-y; 05.30.-d; 05.70. Ce; 03.65.-w}\newline {\it Keywords}{\small : Supersymmetric quantum mechanics, Hamiltonian Hierarchy Method, Morse potential, Pöschl-Teller potential}
A variational calculation of the energy levels of a class of PT-invariant quantum mechanical models described by the non-Hermitian Hamiltonian H= p^2 - (ix)^N with N positive and x complex is presented. Excellent agreement is obtained for the ground state and low lying excited state energy levels and wave functions. We use an energy functional with a three parameter class of PT-symmetric trial wave functions in obtaining our results.
Time-dependent $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric quantum mechanics is featured by a varying inner-product metric and has stimulated a number of interesting studies beyond conventional quantum mechanics. In this paper, we explore geometric aspects of time-dependent $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric quantum mechanics. We not only find a geometric phase factor emerging naturally from cyclic evolutions of $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric systems, but also formulate a series of differential geometry concepts, including connection, curvature, parallel transport, metric tensor, and quantum geometric tensor. Our findings const…
Within quantum mechanics which works with parity-pseudo-Hermitian Hamiltonians we study the tunneling in a symmetric double well formed by two delta functions with complex conjugate strengths. The model is exactly solvable and exhibits several interesting features. Besides an amazingly robust absence of any PT symmetry breaking, we observe a quasi-degeneracy of the levels which occurs all over the energy range including the high-energy domain. This pattern is interpreted as a manifestation of certain "quantum beats".
We show that and how the Coulomb potential can be regularized and solved exactly at the imaginary couplings. The new spectrum of energies is real and bounded as expected, but its explicit form proves totally different from the usual real-coupling case.
A general formalism is worked out for the description of one-dimensional scattering in non-hermitian quantum mechanics and constraints on transmission and reflection coefficients are derived in the cases of P, T, or PT invariance of the Hamiltonian. Applications to some solvable PT-symmetric potentials are shown in detail. Our main original results concern the association of reflectionless potentials with asymptotic exact PT symmetry and the peculiarities of separable kernels of non-local potentials in connection with hermiticity, T invariance and PT invariance.
In my talk I will present an overview of our recent work involving the use of supersymmetric quantum mechanics (SUSY-QM). I begin by discussing the mathematical underpinnings of SUSY-QM and then discuss how we have used this for developing novel theoretical and numerical approaches suitable for studying molecular systems. I will conclude by discussing our attempt to extend SUSY-QM to multiple dimensions.
This paper presents a new Symmetrical Theory (ST) of nonrelativistic quantum mechanics which postulates: quantum mechanics is a theory about complete experiments, not particles; a complete experiment is maximally described by a complex transition amplitude density; and this transition amplitude density never collapses. This new ST is compared to the Conventional Theory (CT) of nonrelativistic quantum mechanics for the analysis of a beam-splitter experiment. The ST makes several experimentally testable predictions that differ from the CT, which can be checked using existing technology. The ST a…
The Feshbach-type reduction of the Hilbert space to the physically most relevant "model" subspace is suggested as a means of a formal unification of the standard quantum mechanics with its recently proposed PT symmetric modification. The resulting "effective" Hamiltonians H(eff) are always Hermitian, and the two alternative forms of their energy-dependence are interpreted as a certain dynamical nonlinearity, responsible for the repulsion and/or attraction of the levels in the Hermitian and/or PT symmetric cases, respectively. The spontaneous PT symmetry breaking is then reflected by the loss o…
A new formulation of relativistic quantum mechanics is presented and applied to a free, massive, and spin zero elementary particle in the Minkowski spacetime. The reformulation requires that time and space, as well as the timelike and spacelike intervals, are treated equally, which makes the new theory fully symmetric and consistent with the Special Theory of Relativity. The theory correctly reproduces the classical action of a relativistic particle in the path integral formalism, and allows for the introduction of a new quantity called vector-mass, whose physical implications for nonlocality,…
A series of geometric concepts are formulated for $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric quantum mechanics and they are further unified into one entity, i.e., an extended quantum geometric tensor (QGT). The imaginary part of the extended QGT gives a Berry curvature whereas the real part induces a metric tensor on system's parameter manifold. This results in a unified conceptual framework to understand and explore physical properties of $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric systems from a geometric perspective. To illustrate the usefulness of the extended QGT, we show how its real part, i.e., the metric tensor, can be ex…
The parity-time-reversal- ($\mathcal{PT}$) symmetric quantum mechanics (PTQM) has developed into a noteworthy area of research. However, to date most known studies of PTQM focused on the spectral properties of non-Hermitian Hamiltonian operators. In this work, we propose an axiom in PTQM in order to study general time-dependent problems in PTQM, e.g., those with a time-dependent $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric Hamiltonian and with a time-dependent metric. We illuminate our proposal by examining a proper mapping from a time-dependent Schrödinger-like equation of motion for PTQM to the familiar time-de…
In his recent paper arXiv:1312.7738, the author discussed $J$-Hermitian quantum mechanics and showed that $PT$-symmetric quantum mechanics is essentially $J$-Hermitian quantum mechanics. In this paper, the author discusses finite $J$-Hermitian quantum mechanics which is derived naturally from its continuum one and its relationship with finite $PT$-symmetric quantum mechanics.
We investigate the possibility that the semiclassical limit of quantum mechanics might be correctly described by a classical dynamical theory, other than standard classical mechanics. Using a set of classicality criteria proposed in a related paper, we show that the time evolution of a set of quantum initial data satisfying these criteria is fully consistent with the predictions of a new theory of classical dynamics. The dynamical structure of the new theory is given by the Moyal bracket. This is a Lie bracket that was first derived as the dynamical structure of the Moyal-Weyl-Wigner formulati…
One of the postulates of quantum mechanics is that the Hamiltonian is Hermitian, as this guarantees that the eigenvalues are real. Recently there has been an interest in asking if $H^\dagger = H$ is a necessary condition, and has lead to the development of PT-symmetric quantum mechanics. This note shows that any finite physically acceptable non-Hermitian Hamiltonian is equivalent to doing ordinary quantum mechanics in a non-orthogonal basis. In particular, this means that there is no experimental distinction between PT-symmetric quantum mechanics and ordinary quantum mechanics for finite syste…
$\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric quantum mechanics has been considered an important theoretical framework for understanding physical phenomena in $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric systems, with a number of $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetry related applications. This line of research was made possible by the introduction of a time-independent metric operator to redefine the inner product of a Hilbert space. To treat the dynamics of generic non-Hermitian systems under equal footing, we advocate in this work the use of a time-dependent metric operator for the inner-product between time-evolving states. This treatment makes…
A qualification is suggested for the counterfactual reasoning involved in some aspects of time-symmetric quantum theory (which involves ensembles selected by both the initial and final states). The qualification is that the counterfactual reasoning should only apply to times when the quantum system has been subjected to physical interactions which place it in a ``measurement-ready condition" for the unperformed experiment on which the counterfactual reasoning is based. The defining characteristic of a "measurement-ready condition" is that a quantum system could be found to have the counterfact…
The structure of the energy levels in a deep triple well is analyzed using simple quantum mechanical considerations. The resultant spectra of the first three energy levels are found to be composed of a ground state localized at the central well and the two other states are distributed only among the left and right well in anti-symmetric and symmetric way respectively. Due to the tunneling effects the energy eigenvalue of the ground state is approximately equal to the ground state energy for a harmonic oscillator localized at the central well, while the two others are nearly degenerate with app…
We propose a model CCS (complex-conjugate-space) to understand the inner and outer product nature of wave functions in non-hermitian PT-symmetry model in quantum mechanics considering (NxN) matrix model. Further we reflect the correct nature of C-symmetry ,P-parity and original Hamiltonian matrix for any arbitrary values of N. Interestingly the present result on N=2 , remains the same reported earlier by Bender,Brody and Jones model PT-symmetry operator. In non-conventional way one can notice that wave functions in a PT-symmetry model satisfies similar relations as in hermitian operator .
For the symmetric harmonic oscillator and the symmetric bouncer defined in 2-D, two different Hamiltonian are given describing the same classical dynamics; however, their quantum dynamics behavior are different.
Although nondemolition, reliable, and instantaneous quantum measurements of some nonlocal variables are impossible, demolition reliable instantaneous measurements are possible for all variables. It is shown that this is correct also in the framework of the time-symmetric quantum formalism, i.e. nonlocal variables of composite quantum systems with quantum states evolving both forward and backward in time are measurable in a demolition way. The result follows from the possibility to reverse with certainty the time direction of a backward evolving quantum state. Demolition measurements of nonloca…
In a recent paper it was shown that if a Hamiltonian H has an unbroken PT symmetry, then it also possesses a hidden symmetry represented by the linear operator C. The operator C commutes with both H and PT. The inner product with respect to CPT is associated with a positive norm and the quantum theory built on the associated Hilbert space is unitary. In this paper it is shown how to construct the operator C for the non-Hermitian PT-symmetric Hamiltonian $H={1\over2}p^2+{1\over2}x^2 +iεx^3$ using perturbative techniques. It is also shown how to construct the operator C for $H={1\over2}p^2+{1\ov…
The author discusses a different kind of Hermitian quantum mechanics, called $J$-Hermitian quantum mechanics. He shows that $PT$-symmetric quantum mechanics is indeed $J$-Hermitian quantum mechanics, and that time evolution (in the Krein space of states) is unitary if and only if Hamiltonian is $J$-Hermitian (or equivalently $PT$-symmetric). An issue with unitarity comes up when time evolution is considered in the Hilbert space of states rather than in the Krein space of states. The author offers possible scenarios with this issue.
The Hilbert space in PT-symmetric quantum mechanics is formulated as a linear vector space with a dynamic inner product. The most general PT-symmetric matrix Hamiltonians are constructed for 2*2 and 3*3 cases. In the former case, the PT-symmetric Hamiltonian represents the most general matrix Hamiltonian with a real spectrum. In both cases, Hermitian matrices are shown to be special cases of PT-symmetric matrices. This finding confirms and strengthens the early belief that the PT-symmetric quantum mechanics is a generalization of the conventional Hermitian quantum mechanics.
In this paper, we discuss time evolution and adiabatic approximation in $PT$-symmetric quantum mechanics. we give the time evolving equation for a class of $PT$-symmetric Hamiltonians and some conditions of the adiabatic approximation for the class of $PT$-symmetric Hamiltonians.
Time-symmetric interpretations of quantum theory are often presented as featuring "retrocausal" effects in addition to the usual forward notion of causation. This paper examines the ontological implications of certain timesymmetric theories, and finds that no dynamical notion of causation applies to them, either forward or backward. It is concluded that such theories actually describe a static picture, in which the notion of causation is relegated to a descriptor of static relationships among events. In addition, these theories lead to an epistemic rather than ontologically referring, realist …
The Einstein's Boxes paradox was developed by Einstein, de Broglie, Heisenberg, and others to demonstrate the incompleteness of the Copenhagen Formulation of quantum mechanics. I explain the paradox using the Copenhagen Formulation.~I then show how a time-symmetric formulation of quantum mechanics resolves the paradox in the way envisioned by Einstein and de Broglie. Finally, I describe an experiment that can distinguish between these two formulations.
Update: A time-independent $n\times n$ PT-symmetric (and symmetric) Hamiltonian is diagonalizable since it has all distinct real eigenvalues and the resulting diagonal matrix is a real symmetric matrix. The diagonalization results an isometry so there shouldn't be any issue with unitarity and unfortunately this very elementary mathematical fact somehow did not draw the authors' attention. However, PT-symmetric quantum mechanics is not out of trouble. For time-dependent PT-symmetric (and symmetric) Hamiltonians (even $2\times 2$ ones) the authors observed that there is a violation of unitarity.…
We derive for Bohmian mechanics topological factors for quantum systems with a multiply-connected configuration space Q. These include nonabelian factors corresponding to what we call holonomy-twisted representations of the fundamental group of Q. We employ wave functions on the universal covering space of Q. As a byproduct of our analysis, we obtain an explanation, within the framework of Bohmian mechanics, of the fact that the wave function of a system of identical particles is either symmetric or anti-symmetric.
The purpose of this paper is the discussion of a pair of coupled linear oscillators that has recently been proposed as a model of a system of two optical resonators. By means of an algebraic approach we show that the frequencies of the classical and quantum-mechanical interpretations of the optical phenomenon are exactly the same. Consequently, if the classical frequencies are real, then the quantum-mechanical eigenvalues are also real.
The degree of entanglement is determined for an arbitrary state of a broad class of PT-symmetric bipartite composite systems. Subsequently we quantify the rate with which entangled states are generated and show that this rate can be characterized by a small set of parameters. These relations allow one in principle to improve the ability of these systems to entangle states. It is also noticed that many relations resemble corresponding ones in conventional quantum mechanics.
We extend the application of the techniques developed within the framework of the pseudo-Hermitian quantum mechanics to study a unitary quantum system described by an imaginary PT-symmetric potential v(x) having a continuous real spectrum. For this potential that has recently been used, in the context of optical potentials, for modelling the propagation of electromagnetic waves travelling in a wave guide half and half filed with gain and absorbing media, we give a perturbative construction of the physical Hilbert space, observables, localized states, and the equivalent Hermitian Hamiltonian. I…
PT-symmetric quantum mechanics, the extension of conventional quantum mechanics to the non-Hermitian Hamiltonian invariant under the combined parity (P) and time reversal (T) symmetry, has been successfully applied to a variety of fields such as solid state physics, mathematical physics, optics, quantum field theory. Recently, the extension of PT-symmetrical theory to entangled quantum systems was challenged in that PT formulation within the conventional Hilbert space violates the no-signaling principle. Here, we revisit the derivation of non-signaling principle in the framework of PT inner pr…
Space of states of PT symmetrical quantum mechanics is examined. Requirement that eigenstates with different eigenvalues must be orthogonal leads to the conclusion that eigenfunctions belong to the space with an indefinite metric. The self consistent expressions for the probability amplitude and average value of operator are suggested. Further specification of space of state vectors yield the superselection rule, redefining notion of the superposition principle. The expression for the probability current density, satisfying equation of continuity and vanishing for the bound state, is proposed.
We show that the quantum Jarzynski equality generalizes to $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric quantum mechanics with unbroken $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetry. In the regime of broken $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetry the Jarzynski equality does not hold as also the $\mathcal{CPT}$-norm is not preserved during the dynamics. These findings are illustrated for an experimentally relevant system -- two coupled optical waveguides. It turns out that for these systems the phase transition between the regimes of unbroken and broken $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetry is thermodynamically inhibited as the irreversible work diverges at the cri…
This paper investigates finite-dimensional representations of PT-symmetric Hamiltonians. In doing so, it clarifies some of the claims made in earlier papers on PT-symmetric quantum mechanics. In particular, it is shown here that there are two ways to extend real symmetric Hamiltonians into the complex domain: (i) The usual approach is to generalize such Hamiltonians to include complex Hermitian Hamiltonians. (ii) Alternatively, one can generalize real symmetric Hamiltonians to include complex PT-symmetric Hamiltonians. In the first approach the spectrum remains real, while in the second approa…
A two boundary quantum mechanics without time ordered causal structure is advocated as consistent theory. The apparent causal structure of usual "near future" macroscopic phenomena is attributed to a cosmological asymmetry and to rules governing the transition between microscopic to macroscopic observations. Our interest is a heuristic understanding of the resulting macroscopic physics.
The continuity equation relating the change in time of the position probability density to the gradient of the probability current density is generalized to PT-symmetric quantum mechanics. The normalization condition of eigenfunctions is modified in accordance with this new conservation law and illustrated with some detailed examples.
One-dimensional scattering problem admitting a complex, PT-symmetric short-range potential V(x) is considered. Using a Runge-Kutta-discretized version of Schroedinger equation we derive the formulae for the reflection and transmission coefficients and emphasize that the only innovation emerges in fact via a complexification of one of the potential-characterizing parameters.
It is proved from stated assumptions of nonrelativistic quantum mechanics based on the Schroedinger equation that identical spin-zero particles must obey symmetric statistics.
We study the physical content of the PT-symmetric complex extension of quantum mechanics as proposed in Bender et al, Phys. Rev. Lett. 80, 5243 (1998) and 89, 270401 (2002), and show that as a fundamental probabilistic physical theory it is neither an alternative to nor an extension of ordinary quantum mechanics. We demonstrate that the definition of a physical observable given in the above papers is inconsistent with the dynamical aspect of the theory and offer a consistent notion of an observable.
Thermodynamics and information theory have been intimately related since the times of Maxwell and Boltzmann. Recently it was shown that the dissipated work in an arbitrary non-equilibrium process is related to the Rényi divergences between two states along the forward and reversed dynamics. Here we show that the relation between dissipated work and Renyi divergences generalizes to $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric quantum mechanics with unbroken $\mathcal{PT}$ symmetry. In the regime of broken $\mathcal{PT}$ symmetry, the relation between dissipated work and Renyi divergences does not hold as the norm …
In quantum theory we refer to the probability of finding a particle between positions $x$ and $x+dx$ at the instant $t$, although we have no capacity of predicting exactly when the detection occurs. In this work, first we present an extended non-relativistic quantum formalism where space and time play equivalent roles. It leads to the probability of finding a particle between $x$ and $x+dx$ during [$t$,$t+dt$]. Then, we find a Schrödinger-like equation for a "mirror" wave function $ϕ(t,x)$ associated with the probability of measuring the system between $t$ and $t+dt$, given that detection occu…
A connection between integrable quantum field theory and the spectral theory of ordinary differential equations is reviewed, with particular emphasis being given to its relevance to certain problems in PT-symmetric quantum mechanics.
There exist several graphical languages for quantum information processing, like quantum circuits, ZX-Calculus, ZW-Calculus, etc. Each of these languages forms a dagger-symmetric monoidal category (dagger-SMC) and comes with an interpretation functor to the dagger-SMC of (finite dimension) Hilbert spaces. In the recent years, one of the main achievements of the categorical approach to quantum mechanics has been to provide several equational theories for most of these graphical languages, making them complete for various fragments of pure quantum mechanics. We address the question of the extens…
Time-symmetric quantum mechanics can be described in the usual Weyl--Wigner--Moyal formalism (WWM) by using the properties of the Wigner distribution, and its generalization, the cross-Wigner distribution. The use of the latter makes clear a strongly oscillating interference between the pre- and post-selected states. This approach allows us to give explicit formulas for the state reconstruction problem, thus generalizing known results to the case of arbitrary observables. In a forthcoming paper we will extend these results to other quantization schemes.
This paper presents a new Relativistic Symmetrical Interpretation (RSI) of the Dirac equation in (1+1)D which postulates: quantum mechanics is intrinsically time-symmetric, with no arrow of time; the fundamental objects of quantum mechanics are transitions; a transition is fully described by a complex transition amplitude density with specified initial and final boundary conditions; and transition amplitude densities never collapse. This RSI is compared to the Copenhagen Interpretation (CI) for the analysis of Einstein's bubble experiment with a spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ particle. This RSI can predic…
This paper presents a new Symmetrical Interpretation (SI) of relativistic quantum mechanics which postulates: quantum mechanics is a theory about complete experiments, not particles; a complete experiment is maximally described by a complex transition amplitude density; and this transition amplitude density never collapses. This SI is compared to the Copenhagen Interpretation (CI) for the analysis of Einstein's bubble experiment. This SI makes several experimentally testable predictions that differ from the CI, solves one part of the measurement problem, resolves some inconsistencies of the CI…
Working within the framework of parity-time-symmetric quantum mechanics we look into the possibility of entanglement generation and demonstrate that the feature of non-violation of no-signaling principle may hold for the simplest non-trivial case of bipartite systems. Basically our arguments are based on the computation of the reduced density matrix of one party to justify that the entropy of the other does not change.
