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A. Mostafazadeh

Publications and source records attributed to A. Mostafazadeh.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

Pseudo-Hermiticity and Electromagnetic Wave Propagation: The case of anisotropic and lossy media

Pseudo-Hermitian operators can be used in modeling electromagnetic wave propagation in stationary lossless media. We extend this method to a class of non-dispersive anisotropic media that may display loss or gain. We explore three concrete models to demonstrate the utility of our general results and reveal the physical meaning of pseudo-Hermiticity and quasi-Hermiticity of the relevant wave operator. In particular, we consider a uniaxial model where this operator is not diagonalizable. This implies left-handedness of the medium in the sense that only clockwise circularly polarized plane-wave solutions are bounded functions of time.

quant-ph

Geometric Phase for Non-Hermitian Hamiltonians and Its Holonomy Interpretation

For an arbitrary possibly non-Hermitian matrix Hamiltonian H, that might involve exceptional points, we construct an appropriate parameter space M and the lines bundle L^n over M such that the adiabatic geometric phases associated with the eigenstates of the initial Hamiltonian coincide with the holonomies of L^n. We examine the case of 2 x 2 matrix Hamiltonians in detail and show that, contrary to claims made in some recent publications, geometric phases arising from encircling exceptional points are generally geometrical and not topological in nature.

quant-ph

Quantum Mechanics of Klein-Gordon Fields II: Relativistic Coherent States

We use the formulation of the quantum mechanics of first quantized Klein-Gordon fields given in the first of this series of papers to study relativistic coherent states. In particular, we offer an explicit construction of coherent states for both charged and neutral (real) free Klein-Gordon fields as well as for charged fields interacting with a constant magnetic field. Our construction is free from the problems associated with charge-superselection rule that complicated the previous studies. We compute various physical quantities associated with our coherent states and present a detailed investigation of their classical (nonquantum) and nonrelativistic limits.

quant-ph

Quantum Mechanics of Klein-Gordon Fields I: Hilbert Space, Localized States, and Chiral Symmetry

We derive an explicit manifestly covariant expression for the most general positive-definite and Lorentz-invariant inner product on the space of solutions of the Klein-Gordon equation. This expression involves a one-parameter family of conserved current densities J_a^μ, with a\in(-1,1), that are analogous to the chiral current density for spin half fields. The conservation of J_a^μis related to a global gauge symmetry of the Klein-Gordon fields whose gauge group is U(1) for rational a and the multiplicative group of positive real numbers for irrational a. We show that the associated gauge symmetry is responsible for the conservation of the total probability of the localization of the field in space. This provides a simple resolution of the paradoxical situation resulting from the fact that the probability current density for free scalar fields is neither covariant nor conserved. Furthermore, we discuss the implications of our approach for free real scalar fields offering a direct proof of the uniqueness of the relativistically invariant positive-definite inner product on the space of real Klein-Gordon fields. We also explore an extension of our results to scalar fields minimally coupled to an electromagnetic field.

quant-ph

Conserved Current Densities, Localization Probabilities, and a New Global Gauge Symmetry of Klein-Gordon Fields

For free Klein-Gordon fields, we construct a one-parameter family of conserved current densities $J_a^μ$, with $a\in(-1,1)$, and use the latter to yield a manifestly covariant expression for the most general positive-definite and Lorentz-invariant inner product on the space of solutions of the Klein-Gordon equation. Employing a recently developed method of constructing the Hilbert space and observables for Klein-Gordon fields, we then obtain the probability current density ${\cal J}_a^μ$ for the localization of a Klein-Gordon field in space. We show that in the nonrelativistic limit both $J_a^μ$ and ${\cal J}_a^μ$ tend to the probability current density for the localization of a nonrelativistic free particle in space, but that unlike $J_a^μ$ the current density ${\cal J}_a^μ$ is neither covariant nor conserved. Because the total probability may be obtained by integrating either of these two current densities over the whole space, the conservation of the total probability may be viewed as a consequence of the local conservation of $J_a^μ$. The latter is a manifestation of a previously unnoticed global gauge symmetry of the Klein-Gordon fields. The corresponding gauge group is U(1) if the parameter $a$ is rational. It is the multiplicative group of positive real numbers if $a$ is irrational. We also discuss an extension of our results to Klein-Gordon fields minimally coupled to an electromagnetic field.

quant-ph

On the Statistical Origin of Topological Symmetries

We investigate a quantum system possessing a parasupersymmetry of order 2, an orthosupersymmetry of order $p$, a fractional supersymmetry of order $p+1$, and topological symmetries of type $(1,p)$ and $(1,1,...,1)$. We obtain the corresponding symmetry generators, explore their relationship, and show that they may be expressed in terms of the creation and annihilation operators for an ordinary boson and orthofermions of order $p$. We give a realization of parafermions of order~2 using orthofermions of arbitrary order $p$, discuss a $p=2$ parasupersymmetry between $p=2$ parafermions and parabosons of arbitrary order, and show that every orthosupersymmetric system possesses topological symmetries. We also reveal a correspondence between the orthosupersymmetry of order $p$ and the fractional supersymmetry of order $p+1$.

hep-th

Cosmological Adiabatic Geometric Phase of a Scalar Field in a Bianchi Spacetime

A two-component formulation of the Klein-Gordon equation is used to investigate the cyclic and noncyclic adiabatic geometric phases due to spatially homogeneous (Bianchi) cosmological models. It is shown that no adiabatic geometric phases arise for Bianchi type I models. For general Bianchi type IX models the problem of the adiabatic geometric phase is shown to be equivalent to the one for nuclear quadrupole interactions of a spin. For these models nontrivial non-Abelian adiabatic geometrical phases may occur in general.

gr-qc

Quantum Mechanical Symmetries and Topological Invariants

We give the definition and explore the algebraic structure of a class of quantum symmetries, called topological symmetries, which are generalizations of supersymmetry in the sense that they involve topological invariants similar to the Witten index. A topological symmetry (TS) is specified by an integer n>1, which determines its grading properties, and an n-tuple of positive integers (m_1,m_2,...,m_n). We identify the algebras of supersymmetry, p=2 parasupersymmetry, and fractional supersymmetry of order n with those of the Z_2-graded TS of type (1,1), Z_2-graded TS of type (2,1), and Z_n-graded TS of type (1,1,...,1), respectively. We also comment on the mathematical interpretation of the topological invariants associated with the Z_n-graded TS of type (1,1,...,1). For n=2, the invariant is the Witten index which can be identified with the analytic index of a Fredholm operator. For n>2, there are n independent integer-valued invariants. These can be related to differences of the dimension of the kernels of various products of n operators satisfying certain conditions.

hep-th

Topological Symmetries

We introduce the notion of a topological symmetry as a quantum mechanical symmetry involving a certain topological invariant. We obtain the underlying algebraic structure of the Z_2-graded uniform topological symmetries of type (1,1) and (2,1). This leads to a novel derivation of the algebras of supersymmetry and $p=2$ parasupersummetry.

hep-th