Narrow Results

In this work, we stress the existence of isomorphisms which map complex contours from the upper half to contours in the lower half of the complex plane. The metric operator is found to depend on the chosen contour but the maps connecting different contours are norm-preserving. To elucidate these features, we parametrized the contour considered in Phys. Rev. D 73, 085002 (2006) for the study of wrong sign x⁴ theory. For the parametrized contour of the form , we found that there exists an equivalent Hermitian Hamiltonian provided that a²c is taken to be real. The equivalent Hamiltonian is b-independent but the metric operator is found to depend on all the parameters a, b and c. Different values of these parameters generate different metric operators which define different Hilbert spaces. All these Hilbert spaces are isomorphic to each other even for the parameter values that define contours with ends in two adjacent wedges. As an example, we showed that the transition amplitudes associated with the contour are exactly the same as those calculated using the contour , which is not -symmetric and has ends in two adjacent wedges in the complex plane.

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, present their utility in establishing a lucid and precise formulation of a unitary quantum theory based on a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian, and elaborate on a number of relevant issues of fundamental importance. In particular, we discuss the role of the antilinear symmetries such as , the true meaning and significance of the so-called charge operators and the -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 and manifestations 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.