Ordinary versus PT-symmetric \phi^3 quantum field theory

DOI10.1103/PHYSREVD.85.085001arXiv1201.1244MaRDI QIDQ6230093FDOQ6230093

Authors: Carl M. Bender, Vincenzo Branchina, Emanuele Messina 

Publication date: 5 January 2012

Abstract: A quantum-mechanical theory is PT-symmetric if it is described by a Hamiltonian that commutes with PT, where the operator P performs space reflection and the operator T performs time reversal. A PT-symmetric Hamiltonian often has a parametric region of unbroken PT symmetry in which the energy eigenvalues are all real. There may also be a region of broken PT symmetry in which some of the eigenvalues are complex. These regions are separated by a phase transition that has been repeatedly observed in laboratory experiments. This paper focuses on the properties of a PT-symmetric $igph{i}^3$ quantum field theory. This quantum field theory is the analog of the PT-symmetric quantum-mechanical theory described by the Hamiltonian $H=p^2+i{x}^3$, whose eigenvalues have been rigorously shown to be all real. This paper compares the renormalization-group properties of a conventional Hermitian $gph{i}^3$ quantum field theory with those of the PT-symmetric $igph{i}^3$ quantum field theory. It is shown that while the conventional $gph{i}^3$ theory in $d=6$ dimensions is asymptotically free, the $igph{i}^3$ theory is like a $gph{i}^4$ theory in $d=4$ dimensions; it is energetically stable, perturbatively renormalizable, and trivial.

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