Interacting and open quantum systems can be formulated in terms of an effective non-Hermitian Hamiltonian (NHH), however, there are important constraints that must be satisfied by the effective action and the associated Green's functions. One common approach to many-body non-Hermitian (NH) systems is to incorporate the anti-Hermitian part of the Hamiltonian directly in the Matsubara Green's function. Here, we show that such an approach is incompatible with the standard framework for systems with interactions. Furthermore, we furnish a consistent physical description for such systems by determining their distinction from conventional interacting physics, and find that they are described by pseudo-Hermitian quantum mechanics. Furthermore, we characterize the zero-temperature distribution functions within several frameworks for NH systems. As an application of our results, we consider the electromagnetic response of a NH quasiparticle Hamiltonian based on the (1+1)-dimensional NH Dirac model subject to various physical descriptions.
Interacting and open quantum systems can be formulated in terms of an effective non-Hermitian Hamiltonian (NHH), however, there are important constraints that must be satisfied by the effective action and the associated Green's functions. One common approach to many-body non-Hermitian (NH) systems is to incorporate the anti-Hermitian part of the Hamiltonian directly in the Matsubara Green's function. Here, we show that such an approach is incompatible with the standard framework for systems with interactions. Furthermore, we furnish a consistent physical description for such systems by determining their distinction from conventional interacting physics, and find that they are described by pseudo-Hermitian quantum mechanics. Furthermore, we characterize the zero-temperature distribution functions within several frameworks for NH systems. As an application of our results, we consider the electromagnetic response of a NH quasiparticle Hamiltonian based on the (1+1)-dimensional NH Dirac model subject to various physical descriptions.
Abstract Every realistic quantum system is coupled to an environment. Including the environment restores a closed, Hermitian description, but at the cost of an intractably large Hilbert space. The Feshbach–Löwdin projection eliminates the unwanted degrees of freedom exactly, yielding an effective Hamiltonian H eff on the relevant subspace alone—which generically becomes non-Hermitian when the eliminated subspace contains an energetically accessible continuum and outgoing boundary conditions are imposed. We illustrate this through a minimal model: a particle in a box with a delta barrier at its center. Direct elimination of one half-well reduces all information about the discarded sector to a single boundary parameter β ; the same result is then rederived via the Green’s function and Dyson equation, offering a pedagogical illustration of how boundary data enter the Green’s-function formalism and relating β to a self-energy term. Whether β is real or complex determines whether H eff is Hermitian or not, and the full range of behavior—from Hermitian dynamics through finite-width resonances to the counterintuitive quantum Zeno effect—follows from this single parameter.
A diagonalizable non-Hermitian Hamiltonian having a real spectrum may be used to define a unitary quantum system, if one modifies the inner product of the Hilbert space properly. We give a comprehensive and essentially self-contained review of the basic ideas and techniques responsible for the recent developments in this subject. We provide a critical assessment of the role of the geometry of the Hilbert space in conventional quantum mechanics to reveal the basic physical principle motivating our study. We then offer a survey of the necessary mathematical tools, present their utility in establishing a lucid and precise formulation of a unitary quantum theory based on a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian, and elaborate on a number of relevant issues of fundamental importance. In particular, we discuss the role of the antilinear symmetries such as [Formula: see text], the true meaning and significance of the so-called charge operators [Formula: see text] and the [Formula: see text]-inner products, the nature of the physical observables, the equivalent description of such models using ordinary Hermitian quantum mechanics, the pertaining duality between local-non-Hermitian versus nonlocal-Hermitian descriptions of their dynamics, the corresponding classical systems, the pseudo-Hermitian canonical quantization scheme, various methods of calculating the (pseudo-) metric operators, subtleties of dealing with time-dependent quasi-Hermitian Hamiltonians and the path-integral formulation of the theory, and the structure of the state space and its ramifications for the quantum Brachistochrone problem. We also explore some concrete physical applications and manifestations of the abstract concepts and tools that have been developed in the course of this investigation. These include applications in nuclear physics, condensed matter physics, relativistic quantum mechanics and quantum field theory, quantum cosmology, electromagnetic wave propagation, open quantum systems, magnetohydrodynamics, quantum chaos and biophysics.
In this chapter, we discuss the central concept in many-body physics, namely the single-particle Green function. It is shown that many physical observables, such as current and number density, are related to this object. However, this quantity is more important than that since it provides information of the nature of ‘quasiparticles’. If we choose to characterize the atomic constituents of the model being studied minus the mutual interactions among the constituents-‘particles’, then ‘quasiparticles’ would be the effective description of such particles in the presence of such mutual interaction between the constituents. The single-particle Green function contains information about the energy momentum relation of these quasiparticles and also their lifetime. We consider this concept both for systems in thermodynamic equilibrium and for systems out of equilibrium.
The description of states and dynamics in non-Hermitian systems is fundamentally linked to the choice of an appropriate theoretical framework -- a point of ongoing debate in the field. This work addresses this issue by proposing a consistent formulation that reconciles existing controversies and establishes a unified theoretical understanding. Our approach rests on two foundational premises: (i) the dynamics of both left and right-vectors of a non-Hermitian system must satisfy the Schrödinger equation; (ii) the theoretical framework must preserve gauge invariance, ensuring that physical quantities are independent of unobservable phase choices. Building on these physically motivated assumptions, we refine the biorthogonal framework, leading to a gauge-invariant non-Hermitian quantum theory. Our framework naturally encompasses the open-system effective non-Hermitian evolution as a special case, and can naturally reduce to standard quantum mechanics in the Hermitian limit. As a concrete application, we analyze the dynamical phase transition in a one-dimensional Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) model within this gauge-invariant non-Hermitian quantum theory. Notably, our formulation naturally generalizes the known condition for such transitions in Hermitian two-band systems, namely, dki⋅dkf=0, to the non-Hermitian case, where it takes the form Re[dkidki⋅dkfdkf]=0. Furthermore, we identify entirely new dynamical phase transitions that cannot be characterized by the winding number. We hope that this gauge-invariant non-Hermitian quantum theory will find broad applications in the study of non-Hermitian systems.
We review the methodology to theoretically treat parity-time- (PT-) symmetric, non-Hermitian quantum many-body systems. They are realized as open quantum systems withPTsymmetry and couplings to the environment which are compatible.PT-symmetric non-Hermitian quantum systems show a variety of fascinating properties which single them out among generic open systems. The study of the latter has a long history in quantum theory. These studies are based on the Hermiticity of the combined system-reservoir setup and were developed by the atomic, molecular, and optical physics as well as the condensed matter physics communities. The interest of the mathematical physics community inPT-symmetric, non-Hermitian systems led to a new perspective and the development of the elegant mathematical formalisms ofPT-symmetric and biorthogonal quantum mechanics, which do not make any reference to the environment. In the mathematical physics research, the focus is mainly on the remarkable spectral properties of the Hamiltonians and the characteristics of the corresponding single-particle eigenstates. Despite being non-Hermitian, the Hamiltonians can show parameter regimes, in which all eigenvalues are real. To investigate emergent quantum many-body phenomena in condensed matter physics and to make contact to experiments one, however, needs to study expectation values of observables and correlation functions. One furthermore, has to investigate statistical ensembles and not only eigenstates. The adoption of the concepts ofPT-symmetric and biorthogonal quantum mechanics by parts of the condensed matter community led to a controversial status of the methodology. There is no consensus on fundamental issues, such as, what a proper observable is, how expectation values are supposed to be computed, and what adequate equilibrium statistical ensembles and their corresponding density matrices are. With the technological progress in engineering and controlling open quantum many-body systems it is high time to reconcile the Hermitian with thePT-symmetric and biorthogonal perspectives. We comprehensively review the different approaches, including the overreaching idea of pseudo-Hermiticity. To motivate the Hermitian perspective, which we propagate here, we mainly focus on the ancilla approach. It allows to embed a non-Hermitian system into a larger, Hermitian one. In contrast to other techniques, e.g. master equations, it does not rely on any approximations. We discuss the peculiarities ofPT-symmetric and biorthogonal quantum mechanics. In these, what is considered to be an observable depends on the Hamiltonian or the selected (biorthonormal) basis. Crucially in addition, what is denoted as an 'expectation value' lacks a direct probabilistic interpretation, and what is viewed as the canonical density matrix is non-stationary and non-Hermitian. Furthermore, the non-unitarity of the time evolution is hidden within the formalism. We pick up several model Hamiltonians, which so far were either investigated from the Hermitian perspective or from thePT-symmetric and biorthogonal one, and study them within the respective alternative framework. This includes a simple two-level, single-particle problem but also a many-body lattice model showing quantum critical behavior. Comparing the outcome of the two types of computations shows that the Hermitian approach, which, admittedly, is in parts clumsy, always leads to results which are physically sensible. In the rare cases, in which a comparison to experimental data is possible, they furthermore agree to these. In contrast, the mathematically elegantPT-symmetric and biorthogonal approaches lead to results which, are partly difficult to interpret physically. We thus conclude that the Hermitian methodology should be employed. However, to fully appreciate the physics ofPT-symmetric, non-Hermitian quantum many-body systems, it is also important to be aware of the main concepts ofPT-symmetric and biorthogonal quantum mechanics. Our conclusion has far reaching consequences for the application of Green function methods, functional integrals, and generating functionals, which are at the heart of a large number of many-body methods. They cannot be transferred in their established forms to treatPT-symmetric, non-Hermitian quantum systems. It can be considered as an irony of fate that these methods are available only within the mathematical formalisms ofPT-symmetric and biorthogonal quantum mechanics.
Abstract Green-function techniques are among the most versatile tools for investigating quantum many-body systems at finite temperature. Yet, standard textbook treatments often fragment the formalism—separating bosons and fermions, systems with massless and massive particles, or restricting proofs to special Hamiltonians—thereby obscuring the structural unity of the theory. This work develops a general, Hamiltonian-independent framework for both real- and imaginary-time Green-functions, valid for any combination of bosonic and fermionic degrees of freedom, including mixed systems such as interacting electron–phonon models. The key conceptual advance is the nature index η , which complements the conventional statistical sign ζ . While ζ encodes particle statistics, η distinguishes canonical quantization of systems with massless particles ( η = 0) from second quantization of systems with massive particles ( η = 1). This classification removes ambiguities in chemical-potential terms and unifies the treatment of photons, phonons, electrons, and their mixtures under a single notation. From this basis, we formulate generalized ensemble constructions, generalized Lehmann-representations, and a fluctuation-dissipation theorem valid for arbitrary Hamiltonians. Several results—such as the monotonicity of particle number in the chemical potential, an explicit formula for the quadratic contribution to the internal energy from the retarded Green-function, and the Hartree-contribution to the self-energy in electron–phonon systems—are either absent from, or only sparsely mentioned in, existing literature. We further introduce Green’s Chart, a visual and algebraic map that systematically connects all Green-function types through analytic continuation, Fourier-transforms, and Wick-rotations, enabling all to be generated from the Matsubara Green-function. Applications to both non-interacting and interacting models demonstrate the framework’s ability to compute densities of states, thermodynamic potentials, and spectral functions with a consistent formalism. The results provide a complete and reproducible toolkit for equilibrium many-body theory, consolidating scattered results into a unified structure suitable for both pedagogical and computational purposes.