Two types of non-Hermitian systems are considered. One of them is both non-Hermitian and non-Linear and an iterative process is used to obtain excited state solutions; the ground state may be solved exactly. The model has been used in many physical systems and the method of calculation uses a simple Hilbert space with a generalised inner product. The second type has a complex term in the Hamiltonian and is a well studied problem in the infinite interval. Here a finite interval is considered and a complete set of eigenfunctions for this interval is used.The relationship between the finite interval states and the infinite interval states is discussed.
The postulates of quantum mechanics associate the time-evolution of a system with its time-dependent Schrödinger equation. We start by examining different solutions to this equation for a particle, represented in terms of a Gaussian wave packet, in different scenarios: free, scattered from a potential energy barrier, or trapped in a potential energy well. In some cases, we encounter stationary solutions, in which the probability density does not change in time (a standing wave). These solutions are identified as eigenfunctions of a system Hamiltonian. The properties of the Hamiltonian as a Hermitian operator are introduced, and particularly, the fact that its proper eigenfunctions can compose an orthonormal set, and that the corresponding eigenvalues are real-valued. Learning that all operators that relate to measurables are Hermitian, and that their eigenvalues relate to the measured values, we conclude that the eigenvalues of the energy operator (Hamiltonian) are the energy levels of the quantum system.
The solutions of the time-independent Schr\"odinger equation for non-Hermitian (NH) Hamiltonians have been extensively studied and calculated in many different fields of physics by using
L2 methods that originally have been developed for the calculations of bound states. The existing non-Hermitian formalism breaks down when dealing with wave packets (WPs). An open question is how time-dependent expectation values can be calculated when the Hamiltonian is NH? Using the
F-product formalism that was recently proposed by Moiseyev and Lein [J. Phys. Chem. 107, 7181 (2003)] we calculate the time-dependent expectation values of different observable quantities for a simple well-known study test case model Hamiltonian. We carry out a comparison between these results and those obtained from conventional (i.e., Hermitian) quantum mechanics (QM) calculations. The remarkable agreement between these results emphasizes the fact that in NH QM, unlike standard QM, there is no need to split the entire space into two regions, i.e., the interaction region and its surrounding. Our results open a door for a type of WP propagation calculations within the NH QM formalism that until now were impossible. In particular our work is relevant to the many different fields in physics and chemistry where complex absorbing potentials are introduced in order to reduce the propagation calculations to a restricted region in space where the artificial reflections from the edge of the numerical grid or box are avoided.
We derive a new time-dependent Schrödinger equation(TDSE) for quantum models with non-hermitian Hamiltonian. Within our theory, the TDSE is symmetric in the two Hilbert spaces spanned by the left and the right eigenstates, respectively. The physical quantities are also identical in these two spaces. Based on this TDSE, we show that exchanging two quasi-particles in a non-hermitian model can generate arbitrary geometric phase. The system can also violate the Lieb-Robinson bound in non-relativistic quantum mechanics so that an action in one place will immediately cause a change in the distance. We show that the above two surprising behaviors can also appear in anyonic model, which makes us propose that the non-hermitian single particle model may possess many common features with anyonic model.
We present a coherent and consistent framework for explicit time-dependence in non-Hermitian quantum mechanics. The area of non-Hermitian quantum mechanics has been growing rapidly over the past twenty years. This has been driven by the fact that
PT-symmetric non-Hermitian systems exhibit real energy eigenvalues and unitary time evolution. Historically, the introduction of time into the world of non-Hermitian quantum mechanics has been a conceptually difficult problem to address, as it requires the Hamiltonian to become unobservable. We solve this issue with the introduction of a new observable energy operator and explain why its instigation is a necessary and natural progression in this setting. For the first time, the introduction of time has allowed us to make sense of the parameter regime in which the
PT-symmetry is spontaneously broken. Ordinarily, in the time-independent setting, the energy eigenvalues become complex and the wave functions are asymptotically unbounded. We demonstrate that in the time-dependent setting this broken symmetry can be mended and analysis on the spontaneously broken
PT regime is indeed possible. We provide many examples of this mending on a wide range of different systems, beginning with a
2×2 matrix model and extending to higher dimensional matrix models and coupled harmonic oscillator systems with infinite Hilbert space. Furthermore, we use the framework to perform analysis on time-dependent quasi-exactly solvable models. We present the "eternal life" of entropy in this thesis. Ordinarily, for entangled quantum systems coupled to the environments, the entropy decays rapidly to zero. However, in the spontaneously broken regime, we find the entropy decays asymptotically to a non-zero value. We create an elegant framework for Darboux and Darboux/Crum transformations for time-dependent non-Hermitian Hamiltonians.