Related papers: Must a Hamiltonian be Hermitian?
A physical requirement on the Hamiltonian operator in quantum mechanics is that it must generate real energy spectrum and unitary time evolution. While the Hamiltonians are Dirac Hermitian in conventional quantum mechanics, they observe…
A non-Hermitian Hamiltonian that has an unbroken PT symmetry can be converted by means of a similarity transformation to a physically equivalent Hermitian Hamiltonian. This raises the following question: In which form of the quantum theory,…
We describe a novel class of quantum mechanical particle oscillations in both relativistic and non-relativistic systems based on $PT$ symmetry and $T^2=-1$ (relevant for fermions), where $P$ is parity and $T$ is time reversal. The…
The Hamiltonian for quantum electrodynamics becomes non-Hermitian if the unrenormalized electric charge $e$ is taken to be imaginary. However, if one also specifies that the potential $A^\mu$ in such a theory transforms as a pseudovector…
More than 15 years ago, a new approach to quantum mechanics was suggested, in which Hermiticity of the Hamiltonian was to be replaced by invariance under a discrete symmetry, the product of parity and time-reversal symmetry, $\mathcal{PT}$.…
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…
In the literature the $CPT$ theorem has only been established for Hamiltonians that are Hermitian. Here we extend the $CPT$ theorem to quantum field theories with non-Hermitian Hamiltonians. Our derivation is a quite minimal one as it…
A condition to have a real spectrum for a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian is given. As special cases, it is shown that the condition is reduced to Hermiticity and PT symmetric conditions.
This paper proposes to broaden the canonical formulation of quantum mechanics. Ordinarily, one imposes the condition $H^\dagger=H$ on the Hamiltonian, where $\dagger$ represents the mathematical operation of complex conjugation and matrix…
A fundamental axiom of quantum mechanics requires the Hamiltonians to be Hermitian which guarantees real eigen-energies and probability conservation. However, a class of non-Hermitian Hamiltonians with Parity-Time ($\mathcal{PT}$) symmetry…
During the recent developments of quantum theory it has been clarified that the observable quantities (like energy or position) may be represented by operators (with real spectra) which are manifestly non-Hermitian. The mathematical…
We provide a reviewlike introduction into the quantum mechanical formalism related to non-Hermitian Hamiltonian systems with real eigenvalues. Starting with the time-independent framework we explain how to determine an appropriate domain of…
A series of recent papers ``Faster than Hermitian Quantum Mechanics'' and related articles made a point of the possibility of a non-Hermitian, but PT-symmetric, operator to play the role of a Hamiltonian. In particular, they show that with…
The author discusses a different kind of Hermitian quantum mechanics, called $J$-Hermitian quantum mechanics. He shows that $PT$-symmetric quantum mechanics is indeed $J$-Hermitian quantum mechanics, and that time evolution (in the Krein…
In this paper a quantum mechanics is built by means of a non-Hermitian momentum operator. We have shown that it is possible to construct two Hermitian and two non-Hermitian type of Hamiltonians using this momentum operator. We can construct…
Unitarity is a cornerstone of quantum theory, ensuring the conservation of probability and information. Although non-Hermitian Hamiltonians are typically associated with open or dissipative systems, pseudo-Hermitian quantum mechanics shows…
While real Hamiltonian mechanics and Hermitian quantum mechanics can both be cast in the framework of complex canonical equations, their complex generalisations have hitherto been remained tangential. In this paper quaternionic and…
We provide a mathematical framework for PT-symmetric quantum theory, which is applicable irrespective of whether a system is defined on R or a complex contour, whether PT symmetry is unbroken, and so on. The linear space in which…
It is believed that unbroken PT symmetry is sufficient to guarantee that the spectrum of a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian is real. We prove that this is not true. We study a Hamiltonian with complex spectrum for which PT symmetry is not…
A diagonalizable non-Hermitian Hamiltonian having a real spectrum may be used to define a unitary quantum system, if one modifies the inner product of the Hilbert space properly. We give a comprehensive and essentially self-contained review…