The physical condition that the expectation values of physical observables are real quantities is used to give a precise formulation of PT-symmetric quantum mechanics. A mathematically rigorous proof is given to establish the physical equivalence of PT-symmetric and conventional quantum mechanics. The results reported in this paper apply to arbitrary PT-symmetric Hamiltonians with a real and discrete spectrum. They hold regardless of whether the boundary conditions defining the spectrum of the Hamiltonian are given on the real line or a complex contour.
The physical condition that the expectation values of physical observables are real quantities is used to give a precise formulation of PT-symmetric quantum mechanics. A mathematically rigorous proof is given to establish the physical equivalence of PT-symmetric and conventional quantum mechanics. The results reported in this paper apply to arbitrary PT-symmetric Hamiltonians with a real and discrete spectrum. They hold regardless of whether the boundary conditions defining the spectrum of the Hamiltonian are given on the real line or a complex contour.
This paper proposes to broaden the canonical formulation of quantum mechanics.Ordinarily, one imposes the condition H † = H on the Hamiltonian, where † represents the mathematical operation of complex conjugation and matrix transposition.This conventional Hermiticity condition is sufficient to ensure that the Hamiltonian H has a real spectrum.However, replacing this mathematical condition by the weaker and more physical requirement H ‡ = H, where ‡ represents combined parity reflection and time reversal PT , one obtains new classes of complex Hamiltonians whose spectra are still real and positive.This generalization of Hermiticity is investigated using a complex deformation H = p 2 + x 2 (ix) ǫ of the harmonic oscillator Hamiltonian, where ǫ is a real parameter.The system exhibits two phases: When ǫ ≥ 0, the energy spectrum of H is real and positive as a consequence of PT symmetry.However, when -1 < ǫ < 0, the spectrum contains an infinite number of complex eigenvalues and a finite number of real, positive eigenvalues because PT symmetry is spontaneously broken.The phase transition that occurs at ǫ = 0 manifests itself in both the quantum-mechanical system and the underlying classical system.Similar qualitative features are exhibited by complex deformations of other standard real Hamiltonians H = p 2 + x 2N (ix) ǫ with N integer and ǫ > -N ; each of these complex Hamiltonians exhibits a phase transition at ǫ = 0.These PT -symmetric theories may be viewed as analytic continuations of conventional theories from real to complex phase space.
The average quantum physicist on the street would say that a quantum-mechanical Hamiltonian must be Dirac Hermitian (invariant under combined matrix transposition and complex conjugation) in order to guarantee that the energy eigenvalues are real and that time evolution is unitary. However, the Hamiltonian H = p 2 + ix 3 , which is obviously not Dirac Hermitian, has a positive real discrete spectrum and generates unitary time evolution, and thus it defines a fully consistent and physical quantum theory. Evidently, the axiom of Dirac Hermiticity is too restrictive. While H = p 2 + ix 3 is not Dirac Hermitian, it is PT symmetric; that is, invariant under combined parity P (space reflection) and time reversal T . The quantum mechanics defined by a PT -symmetric Hamiltonian is a complex generalization of ordinary quantum mechanics. When quantum mechanics is extended into the complex domain, new kinds of theories having strange and remarkable properties emerge. In the past few years, some of these properties have been verified in laboratory experiments. A particularly interesting PT-symmetric Hamiltonian is H = p 2 − x 4 , which contains an upside-down potential. This potential is discussed in detail, and it is explained in intuitive as well as in rigorous terms why the energy levels of this potential are real, positive, and discrete. Applications of PT -symmetry in quantum field theory are also discussed.
Most quantum physicists believe that a quantum-mechanical Hamiltonian must be Dirac Hermitian (invariant under matrix transposition and complex conjugation) to be sure that the energy eigenvalues are real and that time evolution is unitary. However, the non-Dirac-hermitian Hamiltonian H = p2+ix3 has a real positive discrete spectrum and generates unitary time evolution and defines a fully consistent and physical quantum theory. Evidently, Dirac Hermiticity is too restrictive. While H = p2+ix3 is not Dirac Hermitian, it is PT symmetric (invariant under combined space reflection P and time reversal T). Another PT-symmetric Hamiltonian whose energy levels are real, positive and discrete is H = p2−x4, which contains an upside-down potential. The quantum mechanics defined by a PT-symmetric Hamiltonian is a complex generalization of ordinary quantum mechanics. When quantum mechanics and quantum field theory are extended into the complex domain, new kinds of theories having strange and remarkable properties emerge. In the past two years some of these properties have been verified in laboratory experiments. Here, we first discuss PT-symmetric Hamiltonians at a simple intuitive level and explain why the energy levels of such Hamiltonians may be real, positive, and discrete. Second, we describe a recent experiment in which the PT phase transition was observed. Third, we briefly mention that PT-symmetric theories can be useful at a fundamental level. While the double-scaling limit of an O(N)-symmetric gφ4 quantum field theory appears to be inconsistent because the critical value of g is negative, this limit is in fact not inconsistent because the critical theory is PT symmetric.
It is generally assumed that a Hamiltonian for a physically acceptable quantum system (one that has a positive-definite spectrum and obeys the requirement of unitarity) must be Hermitian. However, a PT-symmetric Hamiltonian can also define a physically acceptable quantum-mechanical system even if the Hamiltonian is not Hermitian. The study of PT-symmetric quantum systems is a young and extremely active research area in both theoretical and experimental physics. The purpose of this Review is to provide established scientists as well as graduate students with a compact, easy-to-read introduction to this field that will enable them to understand more advanced publications and to begin their own theoretical or experimental research activity. The ideas and techniques of PT symmetry have been applied in the context of many different branches of physics. This Review introduces the concepts of PT symmetry by focusing on elementary one-dimensional PT-symmetric quantum and classical mechanics and relies in particular on oscillator models to illustrate and explain the basic properties of PT-symmetric quantum theory.
Abstract PT-symmetric quantum theory was originally proposed with the aim of extending standard quantum theory by relaxing the Hermiticity constraint on Hamiltonians. However, no such extension has been formulated that consistently describes states, transformations, measurements and composition, which is a requirement for any physical theory. We aim to answer the question of whether a consistent physical theory with PT-symmetric observables extends standard quantum theory. We answer this question within the framework of general probabilistic theories, which is the most general framework for physical theories. We construct the set of states of a system that result from imposing PT-symmetry on the set of observables, and show that the resulting theory allows only one trivial state. We next consider the constraint of quasi-Hermiticity on observables, which guarantees the unitarity of evolution under a Hamiltonian with unbroken PT-symmetry. We show that such a system is equivalent to a standard quantum system. Finally, we show that if all observables are quasi-Hermitian as well as PT-symmetric, then the system is equivalent to a real quantum system. Thus our results show that neither PT-symmetry nor quasi-Hermiticity constraints are sufficient to extend standard quantum theory consistently.
One of the postulates of quantum mechanics is that the Hamiltonian is Hermitian, as this guarantees that the eigenvalues are real. Recently there has been an interest in asking if H†=H is a necessary condition, and has lead to the development of PT-symmetric quantum mechanics. This note shows that any finite physically acceptable non-Hermitian Hamiltonian is equivalent to doing ordinary quantum mechanics in a non-orthogonal basis. In particular, this means that there is no experimental distinction between PT-symmetric quantum mechanics and ordinary quantum mechanics for finite systems. In particular, the claim that PT-symmetric quantum mechanics allows for faster evolution than Hermitian quantum mechanics is shown to be a problem of physical interpretation.