Pith. sign in

REVIEW 10 cited by

Pseudo-Hermitian Representation of Quantum Mechanics

Not yet reviewed by Pith; the record is open.

This paper has not been read by Pith yet. Machine review is queued; the pith claim, tier, and objections will appear here once it completes.

SPECIMEN: schema-true, not a live event

T0 review · schema-true

One-sentence machine reading of the paper's core claim.

pith:XXXXXXXX · record.json · timestamp

arxiv 0810.5643 v4 pith:B6VU6NSW submitted 2008-10-31 quant-ph gr-qchep-thmath-phmath.MP

Pseudo-Hermitian Representation of Quantum Mechanics

classification quant-ph gr-qchep-thmath-phmath.MP
keywords quantummechanicsphysicalspaceapplicationsbasichilbertoperators
verification ladder T0 review T1 audit T2 compute T3 formal T4 reserved
0 comments
read the original abstract

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 of the basic ideas and techniques responsible for the recent developments in this subject. We provide a critical assessment of the role of the geometry of the Hilbert space in conventional quantum mechanics to reveal the basic physical principle motivating our study. We then offer a survey of the necessary mathematical tools and elaborate on a number of relevant issues of fundamental importance. In particular, we discuss the role of the antilinear symmetries such as PT, the true meaning and significance of the charge operators C and the CPT-inner products, the nature of the physical observables, the equivalent description of such models using ordinary Hermitian quantum mechanics, the pertaining duality between local-non-Hermitian versus nonlocal-Hermitian descriptions of their dynamics, the corresponding classical systems, the pseudo-Hermitian canonical quantization scheme, various methods of calculating the (pseudo-) metric operators, subtleties of dealing with time-dependent quasi-Hermitian Hamiltonians and the path-integral formulation of the theory, and the structure of the state space and its ramifications for the quantum Brachistochrone problem. We also explore some concrete physical applications of the abstract concepts and tools that have been developed in the course of this investigation. These include applications in nuclear physics, condensed matter physics, relativistic quantum mechanics and quantum field theory, quantum cosmology, electromagnetic wave propagation, open quantum systems, magnetohydrodynamics, quantum chaos, and biophysics.

discussion (0)

Sign in with ORCID, Apple, or X to comment. Anyone can read and Pith papers without signing in.

Forward citations

Cited by 10 Pith papers

Reviewed papers in the Pith corpus that reference this work. Sorted by Pith novelty score.

  1. Kubo-Martin-Schwinger conditions for non-Hermitian systems

    quant-ph 2026-06 unverdicted novelty 7.0

    Positivity of the biorthogonal Gibbs functional characterizes quasi-Hermiticity for diagonalisable non-Hermitian operators with real spectra, and the resulting state satisfies the three analytic KMS conditions.

  2. Kubo-Martin-Schwinger conditions for non-Hermitian systems

    quant-ph 2026-06 unverdicted novelty 7.0

    For any diagonalisable non-Hermitian H with real spectrum, the biorthogonal Gibbs functional satisfies positivity of ω_bi(A†A) for all A if and only if H is quasi-Hermitian.

  3. Ghost Degrees of Freedom Without Quantum Runaway: Exact Moment Bounds from an Operator Conservation Law

    quant-ph 2026-04 unverdicted novelty 7.0

    An exact operator conservation law from canonical commutation relations bounds second moments of a ghost-coupled oscillator for all time and states, preventing quantum runaway.

  4. Exact WKB analysis of inverted triple-well: resonance, PT-symmetry breaking, and resurgence

    hep-th 2026-04 unverdicted novelty 7.0

    Exact WKB analysis of inverted triple-well potential reveals PT-symmetry breaking at an exceptional point given by a simple relation between bounce and bion actions, with median-summed spectra real or complex accordingly.

  5. Exact WKB analysis of inverted triple-well: resonance, PT-symmetry breaking, and resurgence

    hep-th 2026-04 unverdicted novelty 7.0

    Exact WKB analysis produces median-summed spectra and an algebraic equation for the exceptional point of PT-symmetry breaking in the inverted triple-well system.

  6. Mobility edges in pseudo-unitary quasiperiodic quantum walks

    quant-ph 2024-11 unverdicted novelty 7.0

    A pseudo-unitary quasiperiodic quantum walk model exhibits a novel mobility edge sharply dividing metallic and insulating phases plus a second transition unique to discrete time, with PT-symmetry breaking quantified b...

  7. Supergravity flows, wormholes and their pseudo-Hermitian holographic duals

    hep-th 2026-05 unverdicted novelty 6.0

    Supergravity truncations admit real-metric wormhole and flow solutions via imaginary scalar extensions, interpreted as dual to pseudo-Hermitian PT-symmetric theories and entangled brane-antibrane states.

  8. Supergravity flows, wormholes and their pseudo-Hermitian holographic duals

    hep-th 2026-05 unverdicted novelty 5.0

    Supergravity truncations admit real-metric wormhole solutions via imaginary scalar extensions whose holographic duals are pseudo-Hermitian and PT-symmetric, interpretable as entangled brane states.

  9. Two flavor neutrino oscillations in presence of non-Hermitian dynamics

    quant-ph 2026-04 unverdicted novelty 5.0

    A density matrix approach to non-Hermitian two-flavor neutrino oscillations shows steady-state probabilities not necessarily 1/2, indicating non-Markovian behavior.

  10. Pathways to Real Composite Operators from Non-Hermitian Fermions

    hep-th 2026-06 unverdicted novelty 4.0

    In a BRST-symmetric theory with non-Hermitian fermion mass matrix, the one-loop contribution to the φ†φ two-point function becomes real for real external momentum after removing the i factor from the e^{iS} normalizat...