Uncertainty inequalities in a non-Hermitian scenario
Abstract
We investigate uncertainty relations for quantum observables evolving under non-Hermitian Hamiltonians, with particular emphasis on the role of metric operators. By constructing appropriate metrics in each dynamical regime, namely the unbroken-symmetry phase, the spontaneously broken-symmetry phase, and at exceptional points, we provide a consistent definition of expectation values, variances, and time evolution within a Krein-space framework. Within this approach, we derive a generalized Heisenberg-Robertson uncertainty inequality which is valid across all spectral regimes. As an application, we analyze a spin model with parity-time reversal symmetry and show that, while the uncertainty measure exhibits oscillatory behavior in the unbroken phase, it evolves towards a minimum-uncertainty steady state in the spontaneously broken-symmetry phase and at exceptional points. We further compare our metric-based description with a Lindblad master-equation approach and show their agreement in the steady state. Our results highlight the necessity of incorporating appropriate metric structures to extract physically meaningful predictions from non-Hermitian quantum dynamics.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2512.24437,
title = {Uncertainty inequalities in a non-Hermitian scenario},
author = {Yanet Alvarez and Mariela Portesi and Romina Ramirez and Marta Reboiro},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2512.24437},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
12 pages, 12 figures