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arXiv:1208.3572 · Physics Letters B

Consistent probabilistic description of the neutral Kaon system

J. Bernabéu, Nick E. Mavromatos, P. Villanueva-Pérez

Published Jun 14, 2013• 12 citations
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Abstract

The neutral Kaon system has both CP violation in the mass matrix and a non-vanishing lifetime difference in the width matrix. This leads to an effective Hamiltonian which is not a normal operator, with incompatible (non-commuting) masses and widths. In the Weisskopf-Wigner Approach (WWA), by diagonalizing the entire Hamiltonian, the unphysical non-orthogonal "stationary" states $K_{L,S}$ are obtained. These states have complex eigenvalues whose real (imaginary) part does not coincide with the eigenvalues of the mass (width) matrix. In this work we describe the system as an open Lindblad-type quantum mechanical system due to Kaon decays. This approach, in terms of density matrices for initial and final states, provides a consistent probabilistic description, avoiding the standard problems because the width matrix becomes a composite operator not included in the Hamiltonian. We consider the dominant-decay channel to two pions, so that one of the Kaon states with definite lifetime becomes stable. This new approach provides results for the time dependent decay rates in agreement with those of the WWA.

DOI
10.1016/j.physletb.2013.06.025

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The neutral Kaon system has both CP violation in the mass matrix and a non-vanishing lifetime difference in the width matrix. This leads to an effective Hamiltonian which is not a normal operator, with incompatible (non-commuting) masses and widths. In the Weisskopf-Wigner Approach (WWA), by diagonalizing the entire Hamiltonian, the unphysical non-orthogonal "stationary" states KL,SK_{L,S}KL,S​ are obtained. These states have complex eigenvalues whose real (imaginary) part does not coincide with the eigenvalues of the mass (width) matrix. In this work we describe the system as an open Lindblad-type quantum mechanical system due to Kaon decays. This approach, in terms of density matrices for initial and final states, provides a consistent probabilistic description, avoiding the standard problems because the width matrix becomes a composite operator not included in the Hamiltonian. We consider the dominant-decay channel to two pions, so that one of the Kaon states with definite lifetime becomes stable. This new approach provides results for the time dependent decay rates in agreement with those of the WWA.
There has been a revival of interest in testing quantum-mechanical postulates, and also CPT\mathrm{CPT}CPT symmetry in the neutral KKK meson system. These effects are bound to be very small. If some deviation from our expectation is found, it can be either from new physics, or from use of an invalid formalism. The neutral KKK-$\mathrm{K\ifmmode\bar\else\textasciimacron\fi{}}$ system is described by $2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}2$ time-independent non-Hermitian effective Hamiltonian. The effective Hamiltonian is derived within the framework of perturbation theory up to the second order in the weak Hamiltonian. In addition, the Wigner-Weisskopf approximation is used. It is known that the correction to this approximation deviates from the exponential decay law. If the correction is large, it will have grave consequences. In this paper, we reexamine these questions. We conclude that all proposed searches for new physics in the KKK meson decays can proceed without worrying about these corrections to the formalism.
This paper begins with a discussion of the general form and general CP-and CPT-transformation properties of the Lee-Oehme--Yang (LOY) effective Hamiltonian for the neutral kaon complex.Next, the properties of the exact effective Hamiltonian determined by the properties of the exact transition amplitudes for this complex are discussed.Using the Khalfin Theorem we show that contrary to the standard result of the LOY theory, the diagonal matrix elements of the effective Hamiltonian governing the time evolution in the subspace of states of an unstable particle and its antiparticle need not be equal at for t > t 0 (t 0 is the instant of creation of the pair) when the total system under consideration is CPT invariant but CP noninvariant.The unusual consequence of this result is that, contrary to the properties of stable particles, the masses of the unstable particle "1" and its antiparticle "2" need not be equal for t o t 0 in the case of preserved CPT and violated CP symmetries.We also show that there exists an approximation which is more accurate than the LOY, and which leads to an effective Hamiltonian whose diagonal matrix elements posses properties consistent with the conclusions for the exact effective Hamiltonian described above.
This paper begins with a discussion of the general form and general CP-and CPT-transformation properties of the Lee-Oehme--Yang (LOY) effective Hamiltonian for the neutral kaon complex.Next, the properties of the exact effective Hamiltonian determined by the properties of the exact transition amplitudes for this complex are discussed.Using the Khalfin Theorem we show that contrary to the standard result of the LOY theory, the diagonal matrix elements of the effective Hamiltonian governing the time evolution in the subspace of states of an unstable particle and its antiparticle need not be equal at for t > t 0 (t 0 is the instant of creation of the pair) when the total system under consideration is CPT invariant but CP noninvariant.The unusual consequence of this result is that, contrary to the properties of stable particles, the masses of the unstable particle "1" and its antiparticle "2" need not be equal for t o t 0 in the case of preserved CPT and violated CP symmetries.We also show that there exists an approximation which is more accurate than the LOY, and which leads to an effective Hamiltonian whose diagonal matrix elements posses properties consistent with the conclusions for the exact effective Hamiltonian described above.
We consider an open quantum system which contains unstable states. The time evolution of the system can be described by an effective non-Hermitian Hamiltonian Heff{H}_{\mathrm{eff}}Heff​, in accord with the Wigner-Weisskopf approximation, and an additional term of the Lindblad form, the so-called dissipator. We show that, after enlarging the original Hilbert space by states which represent the decay products of the unstable states, the non-Hermitian part of Heff{H}_{\mathrm{eff}}Heff​---the ``particle decay''---can be incorporated into the dissipator of the enlarged space via a specific Lindblad operator. Thus the formulation of the time evolution on the enlarged space has a Hermitian Hamiltonian and is probability conserving. The equivalence of the formulation with the original one demonstrates that the time evolution which is governed by a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian and a dissipator of the Lindblad form is nevertheless completely positive, just as systems with Hermitian Hamiltonians.
The time evolution of the KK system as a two-qubit system is given. The effect which is interpreted as CP violation in neutral kaon decays is explained via violation of quantum correlations during time evolution of the KK system as two-kaons system and description is via Yang-Baxterization and unitary time dependent R-matrices to con- struct Hamiltonian, determining the time evolution of two-kaons sys- tem. The nonseparability ideas and criterion can be extended on all mixing state-antistate system and all CP violation cases in particle physics.
We have shown that it is possible to formulate the consistent and probability-preserving description of the CP\mathit{CP}CP-symmetry-violating evolution of a system of decaying particles. This has been done within the framework of quantum mechanics of open systems. This approach allows the description of both the exponential decay and flavor oscillations. We have solved explicitly the Kossakowski-Lindblad master equation for a system of particles with violated CP\mathit{CP}CP symmetry and found the evolution of any observable bilinear in creation and annihilation operators. The choice of a concrete observable can be done by the proper choice of initial conditions for the system of differential equations. We have calculated the evolution as well as mean values of the observables most interesting from the physical point of view, and we have found their lowest order difference with the CP\mathit{CP}CP-preserved values.