PT quantum mechanics - Recent results
- Physics Department, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130 (United States)
Most quantum physicists believe that a quantum-mechanical Hamiltonian must be Dirac Hermitian (invariant under matrix transposition and complex conjugation) to be sure that the energy eigenvalues are real and that time evolution is unitary. However, the non-Dirac-hermitian Hamiltonian H p{sup 2}+ix{sup 3} has a real positive discrete spectrum and generates unitary time evolution and defines a fully consistent and physical quantum theory. Evidently, Dirac Hermiticity is too restrictive. While H = p{sup 2}+ix{sup 3} is not Dirac Hermitian, it is PT symmetric (invariant under combined space reflection P and time reversal T). Another PT-symmetric Hamiltonian whose energy levels are real, positive and discrete is H = p{sup 2}-x{sup 4}, which contains an upside-down potential. The quantum mechanics defined by a PT-symmetric Hamiltonian is a complex generalization of ordinary quantum mechanics. When quantum mechanics and quantum field theory are extended into the complex domain, new kinds of theories having strange and remarkable properties emerge. In the past two years some of these properties have been verified in laboratory experiments. Here, we first discuss PT-symmetric Hamiltonians at a simple intuitive level and explain why the energy levels of such Hamiltonians may be real, positive, and discrete. Second, we describe a recent experiment in which the PT phase transition was observed. Third, we briefly mention that PT-symmetric theories can be useful at a fundamental level. While the double-scaling limit of an O(N)-symmetric g{phi}{sup 4} quantum field theory appears to be inconsistent because the critical value of g is negative, this limit is in fact not inconsistent because the critical theory is PT symmetric.
- OSTI ID:
- 22075547
- Journal Information:
- AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 1479, Issue 1; Conference: ICNAAM 2012: International Conference of Numerical Analysis and Applied Mathematics, Kos (Greece), 19-25 Sep 2012; Other Information: (c) 2012 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-243X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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