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arXiv:quant-ph/0607104 · Physics Letters B

Construction of a unique metric in quasi-Hermitian quantum mechanics: Nonexistence of the charge operator in a 2×2 matrix model

Miloslav Znojil, H. B. Geyer

Published Jul 30, 2006• 46 citations
arXivHTMLPDF
DOI
10.1016/j.physletb.2006.07.028

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We propose a unique way to choose a new inner product in a Hilbert space with respect to which an originally non-self-adjoint operator similar to a self-adjoint operator becomes self-adjoint. Our construction is based on minimizing a 'Hilbert-Schmidt distance' to the original inner product among the entire class of admissible inner products. We prove that either the minimizer exists and is unique or it does not exist at all. In the former case, we derive a system of Euler-Lagrange equations by which the optimal inner product is determined. A sufficient condition for the existence of the unique minimally anisotropic metric is obtained. The abstract results are supported by examples in which the optimal inner product does not coincide with the most popular choice fixed through a charge-like symmetry.
Abstract In 1992, Scholtz et al. ( Ann. Phys., 213 (1992) 74) showed that a set of non-Hermitian operators can represent observables of a closed unitary quantum system, provided only that its elements are quasi-Hermitian ( i.e. , roughly speaking, Hermitian with respect to an ad hoc inner-product metric). We show that such a version of quantum mechanics admits a simultaneous closed-form representation of the metric and of the observables , in terms of auxiliary operators Z k with . At N = 2 the formalism degenerates to the well-known quantum mechanics using factorized metric , where is parity and where is charge.
Most recently it has been observed e.g. by Bender and Klevansky (arXiv:0905.4673 [hep-th]) that the C-operator related to a PT-symmetric non-Hermitian Hamilton operator is not unique. Moreover it has been remarked by Shi and Sun (arXiv:0905.1771 [hep-th]) very recently that there seems to exist a well defined inner product in the context of the Hamilton operator of the PT-symmetric non-Hermitian Lee model yielding a different C-operator as compared to the one previously derived by Bender et al.. The puzzling observations of both manuscripts are reconciled and explained in the present manuscript as follows: the actual form of the metric operator (and the induced C-operator) related to some non-Hermitian Hamilton operator constructed along the lines of Shi and Su depends on the chosen normalization of the left and right eigenvectors of the Hamilton operator under consideration and is therefore ambiguous. For a specific PT-symmetric 2x2-matrix Hamilton operator it is shown that - by a suitable choice of the norm of its eigenvectors - the metric operator yielding a positive semi-definite inner product can be made even independent of the parameters of the considered Hamilton operator. This surprising feature makes in turn the obtained metric operator rather unique and attractive. For later convenience the metric operator for the Bosonic and Fermionic (anti)causal harmonic oscillator is derived.