Related papers: Giving up the ghost
Ghosts have been a stumbling block in the development of a UV complete quantum field theory for gravity. We discuss how difficulties associated with ghosts are overcome in the context of 0+1d QFT. Obtaining a probability interpretation is…
We present a new understanding of the unstable ghost-like resonance which appears in theories such as quadratic gravity and Lee-Wick type theories. Quantum corrections make this resonance unstable, such that it does not appear in the…
With fourth-order derivative theories leading to propagators of the generic ghost-like $1/(k^2-M_1^2)-1/(k^2-M_2^2)$ form, it would appear that such theories have negative norm ghost states and are not unitary. However on constructing the…
A generalized canonical form of action of dynamic theories with higher derivatives is proposed, which does not require the introduction of additional dynamic variables. This form is the initial point for the construction of quantum theory,…
Our purpose in this paper is to analyze the Pais-Uhlenbeck (PU) oscillator using complex canonical transformations. We show that starting from a Lagrangian approach we obtain a transformation that makes the extended PU oscillator, with…
The recognition that the eigenvalues of a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian could all be real if the Hamiltonian had an antilinear symmetry such as $PT$ stimulated new insight into the underlying structure of quantum mechanics. Specifically, it…
Theories described by non-Hermitian Hamiltonians are known to possess strictly positive energy eigenvalues and exhibit unitary time evolution if the Hamiltonian is symmetric under discrete parity and time (PT) transformation. In this work,…
We present a simple class of mechanical models where a canonical degree of freedom interacts with another one with a negative kinetic term, i.e. with a ghost. We prove analytically that the classical motion of the system is completely…
The spectrum of the Hermitian Hamiltonian ${1\over2}p^2+{1\over2}m^2x^2+gx^4$ ($g>0$), which describes the quantum anharmonic oscillator, is real and positive. The non-Hermitian quantum-mechanical Hamiltonian $H={1\over2}p^2+{1…
We reconsider the Lee-Wick (LW) models and compare their properties to the properties of the models that contain purely virtual particles. We argue against the LW premise that unstable particles can be removed from the sets of incoming and…
The non-Hermitian Schr\"odinger equation is re-expressed generally in the form of Hamilton's canonical equation without any approximation. Its quantization called non-Hermitian quantum field theory is discussed. By virtue of the canonical…
We consider the modified Korteweg-de Vries equation, $ u_{xxx} + 6u^2 u_x + u_t \ =\ 0 $, and explore its dynamics in {\it spatial} direction. Higher $x$ derivatives bring about the {\it ghosts}. We argue that these ghosts are benign, i.e.…
We study the quantum Pais-Uhlenbeck oscillator at the resonant (equal-frequency) point, where the dynamics becomes non-diagonalisable and the conventional Fock-space construction collapses. At the classical level, the degenerate system…
Interacting theories with higher derivatives involve ghosts. They correspond to instabilities that display themselves at the classical level. We notice that comparatively "benign" mechanical higher-derivative systems exist where the…
We provide a unified treatment of classical and quantum Gaussian-state sources that unambiguously identifies which features of ghost imaging are strictly quantum mechanical. We show that ghost-image formation is fundamentally classical,…
We develop relativistic non-Hermitian quantum theory and its application to neutrino physics in a strong magnetic field. It is well known, that one of the fundamental postulates of quantum theory is the requirement of Hermiticity of…
We discuss aspects of non-perturbative unitarity in quantum field theory. The additional ghost degrees of freedom arising in "truncations" of an effective action at a finite order in derivatives could be fictitious degrees of freedom. Their…
Recent determinations of the equation of state of dark energy hint that this may well be of the phantom type, i.e., $w_{de} < -1$. If confirmed by future experiments, this would strongly point to the existence of fields that violate the…
The quantum theory of a free particle on a portion of two-dimensional Euclidean space bounded by a circle and subject to non-local boundary conditions gives rise to bulk and surface states. Starting from this well known property, a…
We construct an N=2 supersymmetric extension of the Pais-Uhlenbeck oscillator for distinct frequencies of oscillation. A link to a set of decoupled N=2 supersymmetric harmonic oscillators with alternating sign in the Hamiltonian is…