English

Formulation of Complex Action Theory

Quantum Physics 2012-04-24 v5 High Energy Physics - Theory

Abstract

We formulate a complex action theory which includes operators of coordinate and momentum q^\hat{q} and p^\hat{p} being replaced with non-hermitian operators q^new\hat{q}_{new} and p^new\hat{p}_{new}, and their eigenstates m<newq{}_m <_{new} q | and m<newp{}_m <_{new} p | with complex eigenvalues qq and pp. Introducing a philosophy of keeping the analyticity in path integration variables, we define a modified set of complex conjugate, real and imaginary parts, hermitian conjugates and bras, and explicitly construct q^new\hat{q}_{new}, p^new\hat{p}_{new}, m<newq{}_m <_{new} q | and m<newp{}_m <_{new} p | by formally squeezing coherent states. We also pose a theorem on the relation between functions on the phase space and the corresponding operators. Only in our formalism can we describe a complex action theory or a real action theory with complex saddle points in the tunneling effect etc. in terms of bras and kets in the functional integral. Furthermore, in a system with a non-hermitian diagonalizable bounded Hamiltonian, we show that the mechanism to obtain a hermitian Hamiltonian after a long time development proposed in our letter works also in the complex coordinate formalism. If the hermitian Hamiltonian is given in a local form, a conserved probability current density can be constructed with two kinds of wave functions.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1104.3381,
  title  = {Formulation of Complex Action Theory},
  author = {Keiichi Nagao and Holger Bech Nielsen},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1104.3381},
  year   = {2012}
}

Comments

29 pages, 2 figures, references added, presentation improved, typos corrected. (v5)The definition of $\hat{q}_{new}$ and $\hat{p}_{new}$ are corrected by replacing them with their hermitian conjugates. The errors and typos mentioned in the errata of PTP are corrected. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1009.0441

R2 v1 2026-06-21T17:55:22.059Z