Vacuum nodes and anomalies in quantum theories (Q5940406)

A basic example for the geometrical structure of stationary quantum ground states is the absence of nodes, that is, sets where the wave function vanishes, under general conditions: The vacuum is node-free if the spectrum of the Hamiltonian \(H=1/2 \Delta+V\) is lower semibounded, non-empty, and purely discrete, and if the potential \(V\) is non-trivial, and real. Complex interactions can arise due to magnetic potentials, whence the Hamiltonian is modified by a minimal coupling to \(H=1/2 \Delta_A+V\). In this case the last mentioned condition fails to hold and one can look for non-trivial node-sets of the vacuum in such cases. The authors analyze in detail the ground states of two models of magnetic Hamiltonians on Riemannian manifolds in that respect: i) The planar rotor, that is, a charged particle on a circle with non-vanishing magnetic flux crossing through it and a periodic potential, and ii) The Hall effect on a torus, that is, a charge on a torus with external magnetic field. In the first case, the existence of a unique nodal point of the vacuum is proved and it is shown that this point lies at the maximum of the potential \(V\) at \(\pi\), when \(V\) is reflection invariant and the magneteic flux through the circle is fixed at \(\Phi=\pi\). In the second case the vacuum nodes appearing are located at the crossings of loops which are determined by the holonomies of the magnetic gauge connection. In both cases, the appearance of nodes is related to the breaking of CP-, and translational symmetry.