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arXiv:quant-ph/0306093 · Journal of Physics A Mathematical and General

Pseudo-reality and pseudo-adjointness of Hamiltonians

Zafar Ahmed

Published Oct 1, 2003• 11 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We define pseudo-reality and pseudo-adjointness of a Hamiltonian, H , as ρ H ρ −1 = H * and μ H μ −1 = H ', respectively. We prove that the former yields the necessary condition for a spectrum to be real whereas the latter helps in fixing a definition for the inner-product of the eigenstates. Here we separate out the adjointness of an operator from its Hermitian adjointness. It turns out that a Hamiltonian possessing a real spectrum is first pseudo-real, further it could be Hermitian, PT -symmetric or pseudo-Hermitian.

DOI
10.1088/0305-4470/36/41/005

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We define pseudo-reality and pseudo-adjointness of a Hamiltonian, H , as ρ H ρ −1 = H * and μ H μ −1 = H ', respectively. We prove that the former yields the necessary condition for a spectrum to be real whereas the latter helps in fixing a definition for the inner-product of the eigenstates. Here we separate out the adjointness of an operator from its Hermitian adjointness. It turns out that a Hamiltonian possessing a real spectrum is first pseudo-real, further it could be Hermitian, PT -symmetric or pseudo-Hermitian.
We define pseudo-reality and pseudo-adjointness of a Hamiltonian, HHH, as rhoHrho−1=Hastrho H rho^{-1}=H^astrhoHrho−1=Hast and muHmu−1=Hprimemu H mu^{-1}=H^primemuHmu−1=Hprime, respectively. We prove that the former yields the {it necessary} condition for spectrum to be real whereas the latter helps in fixing a definition for inner-product of the eigenstates. Here we separate out adjointness of an operator from its Hermitian-adjointness. It turns out that a Hamiltonian possessing real spectrum is first pseudo-real, further it could be Hermitian, PT-symmetric or pseudo-Hermitian.
We introduce the notion of pseudo-Hermiticity and show that every Hamiltonian with a real spectrum is pseudo-Hermitian. We point out that all the PT-symmetric non-Hermitian Hamiltonians studied in the literature belong to the class of pseudo-Hermitian Hamiltonians, and argue that the basic structure responsible for the particular spectral properties of these Hamiltonians is their pseudo-Hermiticity. We explore the basic properties of general pseudo-Hermitian Hamiltonians, develop pseudosupersymmetric quantum mechanics, and study some concrete examples, namely the Hamiltonian of the two-component Wheeler–DeWitt equation for the FRW-models coupled to a real massive scalar field and a class of pseudo-Hermitian Hamiltonians with a real spectrum.
We show that a diagonalizable (non-Hermitian) Hamiltonian H is pseudo-Hermitian if and only if it has an antilinear symmetry, i.e., a symmetry generated by an invertible antilinear operator. This implies that the eigenvalues of H are real or come in complex conjugate pairs if and only if H possesses such a symmetry. In particular, the reality of the spectrum of H implies the presence of an antilinear symmetry. We further show that the spectrum of H is real if and only if there is a positive-definite inner-product on the Hilbert space with respect to which H is Hermitian or alternatively there is a pseudo-canonical transformation of the Hilbert space that maps H into a Hermitian operator.
A possible method to investigate non-Hermitian Hamiltonians is suggested through finding a Hermitian operator η+ and defining the annihilation and creation operators to be η+ -pseudo-Hermitian adjoint to each other. The operator η+ represents the η+ -pseudo-Hermiticity of Hamiltonians. As an example, a non-Hermitian and non-PT-symmetric Hamiltonian with imaginary linear coordinate and linear momentum terms is constructed and analyzed in detail. The operator η+ is found, based on which, a real spectrum and a positive-definite inner product, together with the probability explanation of wave functions, the orthogonality of eigenstates, and the unitarity of time evolution, are obtained for the non-Hermitian and non-PT-symmetric Hamiltonian. Moreover, this Hamiltonian turns out to be coupled when it is extended to the canonical noncommutative space with noncommutative spatial coordinate operators and noncommutative momentum operators as well. Our method is applicable to the coupled Hamiltonian. Then the first and second order noncommutative corrections of energy levels are calculated, and in particular the reality of energy spectra, the positive-definiteness of inner products, and the related properties (the probability explanation of wave functions, the orthogonality of eigenstates, and the unitarity of time evolution) are found not to be altered by the noncommutativity.
Abstract The Hamiltonian of a conventional quantum system is Hermitian, which ensures real spectra of the Hamiltonian and unitary evolution of the system. However, real spectra are just the necessary conditions for a Hamiltonian to be Hermitian. In this paper, we discuss the metric operators for pseudo-Hermitian Hamiltonian which is similar to its adjoint. We first present some properties of the metric operators for pseudo-Hermitian Hamiltonians and obtain a sufficient and necessary condition for an invertible operator to be a metric operator for a given pseudo-Hermitian Hamiltonian. When the pseudo-Hermitian Hamiltonian has real spectra, we provide a new method such that any given metric operator can be transformed into the same positive-definite one and the new inner product with respect to the positive-definite metric operator is well defined. Finally, we illustrate the results obtained with an example.
We introduce the notion of pseudo-Hermiticity and show that every Hamiltonian with a real spectrum is pseudo-Hermitian. We point out that all the PT-symmetric non-Hermitian Hamiltonians studied in the literature belong to the class of pseudo-Hermitian Hamiltonians, and argue that the basic structure responsible for the particular spectral properties of these Hamiltonians is their pseudo-Hermiticity. We explore the basic properties of general pseudo-Hermitian Hamiltonians, develop pseudo-supersymmetric quantum mechanics, and study some concrete examples, namely the Hamiltonian of the two-component Wheeler-DeWitt equation for the FRW-models coupled to a real massive scalar field and a class of pseudo-Hermitian Hamiltonians with a real spectrum.