Exact WKB analysis for ${\cal PT}$ symmetric quantum mechanics: Study of the Ai-Bender-Sarkar conjecture

Abstract

We consider exact WKB analysis to a ${\cal PT}$ symmetric quantum mechanics defined by the potential, $V(x) = \omega^2 x^2 + g x^2(i x)^{\varepsilon=2}$ with $\omega \in {\mathbb R}_{\ge 0}$, $g \in {\mathbb R} _{> 0}$. We in particular aim to verify a conjecture proposed by Ai-Bender-Sarkar (ABS), that pertains to a relation between $D$-dimensional ${\cal PT}$-symmetric theories and analytic continuation (AC) of Hermitian theories concerning the energy spectrum or Euclidean partition function. For the purpose, we construct energy quantization conditions by exact WKB analysis and write down their transseries solution by solving the conditions. By performing alien calculus to the energy solutions, we verify validity of the ABS conjecture and seek a possibility of its alternative form by Borel resummation theory if it is violated. Our results claim that the validity of the ABS conjecture drastically changes depending on whether $\omega > 0$ or $\omega = 0$: If ${\omega}>0$, then the ABS conjecture is violated when exceeding the semi-classical level of the first non-perturbative order, but its alternative form is constructable by Borel resummation theory. The ${\cal PT}$ and the AC energies are related to each other by a one-parameter Stokes automorphism, and a median resummed form, which corresponds to a formal exact solution, of the AC energy (resp. ${\cal PT}$ energy) is directly obtained by acting Borel resummation to a transseries solution of the ${\cal PT}$ energy (resp. AC energy). If $\omega = 0$, then, with respect to the inverse energy level-expansion, not only perturbative/non-perturbative structures of the ${\cal PT}$ and the AC energies but also their perturbative parts do not match with each other. These energies are independent solutions, and no alternative form of the ABS conjecture can be reformulated by Borel resummation theory.