Non-Hermitian Hamiltonian deformations in quantum mechanics

Abstract

Abstract The construction of exactly-solvable models has recently been advanced by considering integrable $$ T\overline{T} $$ T T ¯ deformations and related Hamiltonian deformations in quantum mechanics. We introduce a broader class of non-Hermitian Hamiltonian deformations in a nonrelativistic setting, to account for the description of a large class of open quantum systems, which includes, e.g., arbitrary Markovian evolutions conditioned to the absence of quantum jumps. We relate the time evolution operator and the time-evolving density matrix in the undeformed and deformed theories in terms of integral transforms with a specific kernel. Non-Hermitian Hamiltonian deformations naturally arise in the description of energy diffusion that emerges in quantum systems from time-keeping errors in a real clock used to track time evolution. We show that the latter can be related to an inverse $$ T\overline{T} $$ T T ¯ deformation with a purely imaginary deformation parameter. In this case, the integral transforms take a particularly simple form when the initial state is a coherent Gibbs state or a thermofield double state, as we illustrate by characterizing the purity, Rényi entropies, logarithmic negativity, and the spectral form factor. As the dissipative evolution of a quantum system can be conveniently described in Liouville space, we further study the spectral properties of the Liouvillians, i.e., the dynamical generators associated with the deformed theories. As an application, we discuss the interplay between decoherence and quantum chaos in non-Hermitian deformations of random matrix Hamiltonians and the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev model.