159 research outputs found
Time evolution of non-Hermitian Hamiltonian systems
We provide time-evolution operators, gauge transformations and a perturbative
treatment for non-Hermitian Hamiltonian systems, which are explicitly
time-dependent. We determine various new equivalence pairs for Hermitian and
non-Hermitian Hamiltonians, which are therefore pseudo-Hermitian and in
addition in some cases also invariant under PT-symmetry. In particular, for the
harmonic oscillator perturbed by a cubic non-Hermitian term, we evaluate
explicitly various transition amplitudes, for the situation when these systems
are exposed to a monochromatic linearly polarized electric field.Comment: 25 pages Latex, 1 eps figure, references adde
Non-Hermitian Hamiltonians with real eigenvalues coupled to electric fields: from the time-independent to the time dependent quantum mechanical formulation
We provide a reviewlike introduction into the quantum mechanical formalism
related to non-Hermitian Hamiltonian systems with real eigenvalues. Starting
with the time-independent framework we explain how to determine an appropriate
domain of a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian and pay particular attention to the role
played by PT-symmetry and pseudo-Hermiticity. We discuss the time-evolution of
such systems having in particular the question in mind of how to couple
consistently an electric field to pseudo-Hermitian Hamiltonians. We illustrate
the general formalism with three explicit examples: i) the generalized Swanson
Hamiltonians, which constitute non-Hermitian extensions of anharmonic
oscillators, ii) the spiked harmonic oscillator, which exhibits explicit
supersymmetry and iii) the -x^4-potential, which serves as a toy model for the
quantum field theoretical phi^4-theory.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Laser Physics, minor typos
correcte
A spin chain model with non-Hermitian interaction: the Ising quantum spin chain in an imaginary field
We investigate a lattice version of the Yang-Lee model which is characterized by a non-Hermitian quantum spin chain Hamiltonian. We propose a new way to implement PT-symmetry on the lattice, which serves to guarantee the reality of the spectrum in certain regions of values of the coupling constants. In that region of unbroken PT-symmetry we construct a Dyson map, a metric operator and find the Hermitian counterpart of the Hamiltonian for small values of the number of sites, both exactly and perturbatively. Besides the standard perturbation theory about the Hermitian part of the Hamiltonian, we also carry out an expansion in the second coupling constant of the model. Our constructions turns out to be unique with the sole assumption that the Dyson map is Hermitian. Finally we compute the magnetization of the chain in the z and x direction
Green Functions for the Wrong-Sign Quartic
It has been shown that the Schwinger-Dyson equations for non-Hermitian
theories implicitly include the Hilbert-space metric. Approximate Green
functions for such theories may thus be obtained, without having to evaluate
the metric explicitly, by truncation of the equations. Such a calculation has
recently been carried out for various -symmetric theories, in both quantum
mechanics and quantum field theory, including the wrong-sign quartic
oscillator. For this particular theory the metric is known in closed form,
making possible an independent check of these approximate results. We do so by
numerically evaluating the ground-state wave-function for the equivalent
Hermitian Hamiltonian and using this wave-function, in conjunction with the
metric operator, to calculate the one- and two-point Green functions. We find
that the Green functions evaluated by lowest-order truncation of the
Schwinger-Dyson equations are already accurate at the (6-8)% level. This
provides a strong justification for the method and a motivation for its
extension to higher order and to higher dimensions, where the calculation of
the metric is extremely difficult
Perturbation theory of PT-symmetric Hamiltonians
In the framework of perturbation theory the reality of the perturbed
eigenvalues of a class of \PTsymmetric Hamiltonians is proved using stability
techniques. We apply this method to \PTsymmetric unperturbed Hamiltonians
perturbed by \PTsymmetric additional interactions
Delta-Function Potential with a Complex Coupling
We explore the Hamiltonian operator H=-d^2/dx^2 + z \delta(x) where x is
real, \delta(x) is the Dirac delta function, and z is an arbitrary complex
coupling constant. For a purely imaginary z, H has a (real) spectral
singularity at E=-z^2/4. For \Re(z)<0, H has an eigenvalue at E=-z^2/4. For the
case that \Re(z)>0, H has a real, positive, continuous spectrum that is free
from spectral singularities. For this latter case, we construct an associated
biorthonormal system and use it to perform a perturbative calculation of a
positive-definite inner product that renders H self-adjoint. This allows us to
address the intriguing question of the nonlocal aspects of the equivalent
Hermitian Hamiltonian for the system. In particular, we compute the energy
expectation values for various Gaussian wave packets to show that the
non-Hermiticity effect diminishes rapidly outside an effective interaction
region.Comment: Published version, 14 pages, 2 figure
PT Symmetry of the non-Hermitian XX Spin-Chain: Non-local Bulk Interaction from Complex Boundary Fields
The XX spin-chain with non-Hermitian diagonal boundary conditions is shown to
be quasi-Hermitian for special values of the boundary parameters. This is
proved by explicit construction of a new inner product employing a
"quasi-fermion" algebra in momentum space where creation and annihilation
operators are not related via Hermitian conjugation. For a special example,
when the boundary fields lie on the imaginary axis, we show the spectral
equivalence of the quasi-Hermitian XX spin-chain with a non-local fermion
model, where long range hopping of the particles occurs as the non-Hermitian
boundary fields increase in strength. The corresponding Hamiltonian
interpolates between the open XX and the quantum group invariant XXZ model at
the free fermion point. For an even number of sites the former is known to be
related to a CFT with central charge c=1, while the latter has been connected
to a logarithmic CFT with central charge c=-2. We discuss the underlying
algebraic structures and show that for an odd number of sites the superalgebra
symmetry U(gl(1|1)) can be extended from the unit circle along the imaginary
axis. We relate the vanishing of one of its central elements to the appearance
of Jordan blocks in the Hamiltonian.Comment: 37 pages, 5 figure
Non-Hermitian Hamiltonians of Lie algebraic type
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
generalized Bogoliubov transformation, which allows to compute explicitly real
energy eigenvalue spectra for these type of Hamiltonians, together with their
eigenstates. We compare the two approaches.Comment: 27 page
Application of Pseudo-Hermitian Quantum Mechanics to a Complex Scattering Potential with Point Interactions
We present a generalization of the perturbative construction of the metric
operator for non-Hermitian Hamiltonians with more than one perturbation
parameter. We use this method to study the non-Hermitian scattering
Hamiltonian: H=p^2/2m+\zeta_-\delta(x+a)+\zeta_+\delta(x-a), where \zeta_\pm
and a are respectively complex and real parameters and \delta(x) is the Dirac
delta function. For regions in the space of coupling constants \zeta_\pm where
H is quasi-Hermitian and there are no complex bound states or spectral
singularities, we construct a (positive-definite) metric operator \eta and the
corresponding equivalent Hermitian Hamiltonian h. \eta turns out to be a
(perturbatively) bounded operator for the cases that the imaginary part of the
coupling constants have opposite sign, \Im(\zeta_+) = -\Im(\zeta_-). This in
particular contains the PT-symmetric case: \zeta_+ = \zeta_-^*. We also
calculate the energy expectation values for certain Gaussian wave packets to
study the nonlocal nature of \rh or equivalently the non-Hermitian nature of
\rH. We show that these physical quantities are not directly sensitive to the
presence of PT-symmetry.Comment: 22 pages, 4 figure
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