Space--Time Symmetry, CPT and Mirror Fermions

Currently there is much interest in Hamiltonians that are not Hermitian but instead possess an antilinear $PT$ symmetry, since such Hamiltonians can still lead to the time-independent evolution of scalar products, and can still have an entirely real energy spectrum. However, such theories can also admit of energy spectra in which energies come in complex conjugate pairs, and can even admit of Hamiltonians that cannot be diagonalized at all. Hermiticity is just a particular re...

The CPT theorem originally proven by L\"uders and Pauli ensures the equality of masses, lifetimes, magnetic moments and cross sections of any particle and its antiparticle. We show that in a Lorentz invariant quantum field theory described by its Lagrangian, CPT-violating interaction alone does not split the masses of an elementary particle and its antiparticle but breaks only the equality of lifetimes, magnetic moments and cross sections. However, CPT violation in the mass t...

The analysis conducted in this work indicates that interactions of a CP-violating (and CPT-preserving) quantum system with a thermodynamic environment can produce the impression of a CPT violation in the system. This conclusion is reasonably consistent with the results reported for decays of neutral K-mesons.

Starting from Wigner's symmetry representation theorem, we give a general account of discrete symmetries (parity P, charge conjugation C, time-reversal T), focusing on fermions in Quantum Field Theory. We provide the rules of transformation of Weyl spinors, both at the classical level (grassmanian wave functions) and quantum level (operators). Making use of Wightman's definition of invariance, we outline ambiguities linked to the notion of classical fermionic Lagrangian. We t...

We extend the $CPT$ theorem to quantum field theories with non-Hermitian Hamiltonians and unstable states. Our derivation is a quite minimal one as it requires only the time independent evolution of scalar products, invariance under complex Lorentz transformations, and a non-standard but nonetheless perfectly legitimate interpretation of charge conjugation as an anti-linear operator. The first of these requirements does not force the Hamiltonian to be Hermitian. Rather, it fo...

The Hamiltonian H specifies the energy levels and time evolution of a quantum theory. A standard axiom of quantum mechanics requires that H be Hermitian because Hermiticity guarantees that the energy spectrum is real and that time evolution is unitary (probability-preserving). This paper describes an alternative formulation of quantum mechanics in which the mathematical axiom of Hermiticity (transpose + complex conjugate) is replaced by the physically transparent condition of...

It has recently been shown that a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian H possessing an unbroken PT symmetry (i) has a real spectrum that is bounded below, and (ii) defines a unitary theory of quantum mechanics with positive norm. The proof of unitarity requires a linear operator C, which was originally defined as a sum over the eigenfunctions of H. However, using this definition to calculate C is cumbersome in quantum mechanics and impossible in quantum field theory. An alternative meth...

We argue that the Big Bang can be understood as a type of mirror. We show how reflecting boundary conditions for spinors and higher spin fields are fixed by local Lorentz and gauge symmetry, and how a temporal mirror (like the Bang) differs from a spatial mirror (like the AdS boundary), providing a possible explanation for the observed pattern of left- and right-handed fermions. By regarding the Standard Model as the limit of a minimal left-right symmetric theory, we obtain a...

The paper presents the representation of quantum field theory without introduction of infinity bare masses and coupling constants of fermions. Counter-terms, compensating for divergent quantities in self-energy diagrams of fermions and vacuum polarization diagrams at all orders of the perturbation theory, appear in the appropriate Hamiltonians under the special time-dependent unitary transformation.

Within CPT-symmetric quantum mechanics the most elementary differential form of the charge operator C is assumed. A closed-form integrability of the related coupled differential self-consistency conditions and a natural embedding of the Hamiltonians in a supersymmetric scheme is achieved. For a particular choice of the interactions the rigorous mathematical consistency of the construction is scrutinized suggesting that quantum systems with non-self-adjoint Hamiltonians may ad...