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Quantum catastrophes: a case study

Miloslav Znojil

The bound-state spectrum of a Hamiltonian H is assumed real in a non-empty domain D of physical values of parameters. This means that for these parameters, H may be called crypto-Hermitian, i.e., made Hermitian via an ad hoc choice of the inner product in the physical Hilbert space of quantum bound states (i.e., via an ad hoc construction of the so called metric). The name of quantum catastrophe is then assigned to the N-tuple-exceptional-point crossing, i.e., to the scenario in which we leave domain D along such a path that at the boundary of D, an N-plet of bound state energies degenerates and, subsequently, complexifies. At any fixed $$N \geq 2$$, this process is simulated via an N by N benchmark effective matrix Hamiltonian H. Finally, it is being assigned such a closed-form metric which is made unique via an N-extrapolation-friendliness requirement.

http://arxiv.org/abs/1206.6000
Quantum Physics (quant-ph); Mathematical Physics (math-ph)

PT phase transition in multidimensional quantum systems

Carl M. Bender, David J. Weir

Non-Hermitian PT-symmetric quantum-mechanical Hamiltonians generally exhibit a phase transition that separates two parametric regions, (i) a region of unbroken PT symmetry in which the eigenvalues are all real, and (ii) a region of broken PT symmetry in which some of the eigenvalues are complex. This transition has recently been observed experimentally in a variety of physical systems. Until now, theoretical studies of the PT phase transition have generally been limited to one-dimensional models. Here, four nontrivial coupled PT-symmetric Hamiltonians, $$H=p^2/2+x^2/2+q^2/2+y^2/2+igx^2y$$, $$H=p^2/2+x^2/2+q^2/2+y^2+igx^2y$$, $$H=p^2/2+x^2/2+q^2/2+y^2/2+r^2/2+z^2/2+igxyz$$, and $$H=p^2/2+x^2/2+q^2/2+y^2+r^2/2+3z^2/2+igxyz$$ are examined. Based on extensive numerical studies, this paper conjectures that all four models exhibit a phase transition. The transitions are found to occur at $$g\approx 0.1$$, $$g\approx 0.04$$, $$g\approx 0.1$$, and $$g\approx 0.05$$. These results suggest that the PT phase transition is a robust phenomenon not limited to systems having one degree of freedom.

http://arxiv.org/abs/1206.5100
Quantum Physics (quant-ph); High Energy Physics – Theory (hep-th); Mathematical Physics (math-ph)

Observation of PT phase transition in a simple mechanical system

Carl M. Bender, Bjorn K. Berntson, David Parker, E. Samuel

If a Hamiltonian is PT symmetric, there are two possibilities: Either the eigenvalues are entirely real, in which case the Hamiltonian is said to be in an unbroken-PT-symmetric phase, or else the eigenvalues are partly real and partly complex, in which case the Hamiltonian is said to be in a broken-PT-symmetric phase. As one varies the parameters of the Hamiltonian, one can pass through the phase transition that separates the unbroken and broken phases. This transition has recently been observed in a variety of laboratory experiments. This paper explains the phase transition in a simple and intuitive fashion and then describes an extremely elementary experiment in which the phase transition is easily observed.

http://arxiv.org/abs/1206.4972
Mathematical Physics (math-ph); High Energy Physics – Theory (hep-th); Quantum Physics (quant-ph)

Stationary states of a PT-symmetric two-mode Bose-Einstein condensate

Eva-Maria Graefe

The understanding of nonlinear PT-symmetric quantum systems, arising for example in the theory of Bose-Einstein condensates in PT-symmetric potentials, is widely based on numerical investigations, and little is known about generic features induced by the interplay of PT-symmetry and nonlinearity. To gain deeper insights it is important to have analytically solvable toy-models at hand. In the present paper the stationary states of a simple toy-model of a PT-symmetric system are investigated. The model can be interpreted as a simple description of a Bose-Einstein condensate in a PT-symmetric double well trap in a two-mode approximation. The eigenvalues and eigenstates of the system can be explicitly calculated in a straight forward manner; the resulting structures resemble those that have recently been found numerically for a more realistic PT-symmetric double delta potential. In addition, a continuation of the system is introduced that allows an interpretation in terms of a simple linear matrix model.

http://arxiv.org/abs/1206.4806
Quantum Physics (quant-ph); Quantum Gases (cond-mat.quant-gas)

Resolution of Inconsistency in the Double-Scaling Limit

Carl M. Bender, Moshe Moshe, Sarben Sarkar

The conventional double-scaling limit of a quartic quantum field theory is inconsistent because the critical coupling constant is negative. Thus, at the critical coupling the Lagrangian appears to define a quantum theory whose energy is complex. Worse yet, the functional integral for the partition function of the theory does not exist. It is shown that one can avoid these difficulties if one approaches this correlated limit in a PT-symmetric fashion. The partition function is calculated explicitly in the double-scaling limit of an zero-dimensional O(N)-symmetric quartic model.

http://arxiv.org/abs/1206.4943
High Energy Physics – Theory (hep-th); Mathematical Physics (math-ph); Quantum Physics (quant-ph)

Competing PT potentials and re-entrant PT symmetric phase for a particle in a box

Yogesh N. Joglekar, Bijan Bagchi

We investigate the effects of competition between two complex, $$\mathcal{PT}$$-symmetric potentials on the $$\mathcal{PT}$$-symmetric phase of a “particle in a box”. These potentials, given by $$V_Z(x)=iZ\mathrm{sign}(x)$$ and $$V_\xi(x)=i\xi[\delta(x-a)-\delta(x+a)]$$, represent long-range and localized gain/loss regions respectively. We obtain the $$\mathcal{PT}$$-symmetric phase in the $$(Z,\xi)$$ plane, and find that for locations $$\pm a$$ near the edge of the box, the $$\mathcal{PT}$$-symmetric phase is strengthened by additional losses to the loss region. We also predict that a broken $$\mathcal{PT}$$-symmetry will be restored by increasing the strength $$\xi$$ of the localized potential. By comparing the results for this problem and its lattice counterpart, we show that a robust $$\mathcal{PT}$$-symmetric phase in the continuum is consistent with the fragile phase on the lattice. Our results demonstrate that systems with multiple, $$\mathcal{PT}$$-symmetric potentials show unique, unexpected properties.

http://arxiv.org/abs/1206.3310
Quantum Physics (quant-ph)

Invisibility and PT-symmetry

For a general complex scattering potential defined on a real line, we show that the equations governing invisibility of the potential are invariant under the combined action of parity and time-reversal (PT) transformation. We determine the PT-symmetric an well as non-PT-symmetric invisible configurations of an easily realizable exactly solvable model that consists of a two-layer planar slab consisting of optically active material. Our analysis shows that although PT-symmetry is neither necessary nor sufficient for the invisibility of a scattering potential, it plays an important role in the characterization of the invisible configurations. A byproduct of our investigation is the discovery of certain configurations of our model that are effectively reflectionless in a spectral range as wide as several hundred nanometers.

http://arxiv.org/abs/1206.0116
Mathematical Physics (math-ph); Optics (physics.optics); Quantum Physics (quant-ph)

Astrophysical Evidence for the Non-Hermitian but $$PT$$-symmetric Hamiltonian of Conformal Gravity

Philip D. Mannheim

In this review we discuss the connection between two seemingly disparate topics, macroscopic gravity on astrophysical scales and Hamiltonians that are not Hermitian but $PT$ symmetric on microscopic ones. In particular we show that the quantum-mechanical unitarity problem of the fourth-order derivative conformal gravity theory is resolved by recognizing that the scalar product appropriate to the theory is not the Dirac norm associated with a Hermitian Hamiltonian but is instead the norm associated with a non-Hermitian but $$PT$$-symmetric Hamiltonian. Moreover, the fourth-order theory Hamiltonian is not only not Hermitian, it is not even diagonalizable, being of Jordan-block form. With $$PT$$ symmetry we establish that conformal gravity is consistent at the quantum-mechanical level. In consequence, we can apply the theory to data, to find that the theory is capable of naturally accounting for the systematics of the rotation curves of a large and varied sample of 138 spiral galaxies without any need for dark matter. The success of the fits provides evidence for the relevance of non-diagonalizable but $$PT$$-symmetric Hamiltonians to physics.

http://arxiv.org/abs/1205.5717
High Energy Physics – Theory (hep-th); Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO); General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc); Quantum Physics (quant-ph)