English

Calculation of the Hidden Symmetry Operator in PT-Symmetric Quantum Mechanics

Quantum Physics 2009-11-07 v1

Abstract

In a recent paper it was shown that if a Hamiltonian H has an unbroken PT symmetry, then it also possesses a hidden symmetry represented by the linear operator C. The operator C commutes with both H and PT. The inner product with respect to CPT is associated with a positive norm and the quantum theory built on the associated Hilbert space is unitary. In this paper it is shown how to construct the operator C for the non-Hermitian PT-symmetric Hamiltonian H=12p2+12x2+iϵx3H={1\over2}p^2+{1\over2}x^2 +i\epsilon x^3 using perturbative techniques. It is also shown how to construct the operator C for H=12p2+12x2ϵx4H={1\over2}p^2+{1\over2}x^2-\epsilon x^4 using nonperturbative methods.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.quant-ph/0211166,
  title  = {Calculation of the Hidden Symmetry Operator in PT-Symmetric Quantum Mechanics},
  author = {Carl M. Bender and Peter N. Meisinger and Qinghai Wang},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:quant-ph/0211166},
  year   = {2009}
}