Nonuniqueness of the C operator in PT-symmetric quantum mechanics

DOI10.1088/1751-8113/46/27/275306MaRDI QIDQ5326006zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors Carl M. Bender, M. Gianfreda

Publication date 31 July 2013

Published in Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1302.7047

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Finite-dimensional groups and algebras motivated by physics and their representations (81R05) Operator algebra methods applied to problems in quantum theory (81R15) Model quantum field theories (81T10) Other elementary particle theory in quantum theory (81V25)

Abstract: The C operator in PT-symmetric quantum mechanics satisfies a system of three simultaneous algebraic operator equations, $C^2=1$, $[C,PT]=0$, and $[C,H]=0$. These equations are difficult to solve exactly, so perturbative methods have been used in the past to calculate C. The usual approach has been to express the Hamiltonian as $H=H_0+epsilon{H}_1$, and to seek a solution for C in the form $C=e^{Q}P$, where $Q=Q(q,p)$ is odd in the momentum p, even in the coordinate q, and has a perturbation expansion of the form $Q=epsilon{Q}_1+epsilo{n}^3{Q}_3+epsilo{n}^5{Q}_5+ldots$. [In previous work it has always been assumed that the coefficients of even powers of $epsilon$ in this expansion would be absent because their presence would violate the condition that $Q(p,q)$ is odd in p.] In an earlier paper it was argued that the C operator is not unique because the perturbation coefficient $Q_1$ is nonunique. Here, the nonuniqueness of C is demonstrated at a more fundamental level: It is shown that the perturbation expansion for Q actually has the more general form $Q=Q_0+epsilon{Q}_1+epsilo{n}^2{Q}_2+ldots$ in which {it all} powers and not just odd powers of $epsilon$ appear. For the case in which $H_0$ is the harmonic-oscillator Hamiltonian, $Q_0$ is calculated exactly and in closed form and it is shown explicitly to be nonunique. The results are verified by using powerful summation procedures based on analytic continuation. It is also shown how to calculate the higher coefficients in the perturbation series for Q.

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(4)

• Nonautonomous Hamiltonian quantum systems, operator equations, and representations of the Bender-Dunne Weyl-ordered basis under time-dependent canonical transformations
• Construction of the operator for a symmetric model
• Unbounded C-symmetries and their nonuniqueness
• Nonunique \(C\) operator \(PT\) in quantum mechanics

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