Unusual isospectral factorizations of shape invariant Hamiltonians with Scarf II potential

Abstract

Abstract In this paper, we search the factorizations of the shape invariant Hamiltonians with Scarf II potential. We find two classes: one of them is the standard real factorization which leads us to a real hierarchy of potentials and their energy levels; the other one is complex and it leads us naturally to a hierarchy of complex Hamiltonians. We will show some properties of these complex Hamiltonians: they are not parity-time (or PT) symmetric, but their spectrum is real and isospectral to the Scarf II real Hamiltonian hierarchy. The algebras for real and complex shift operators (also called potential algebras) are computed; they consist of su(1, 1) for each of them and the total potential algebra including both hierarchies is the direct sum su(1, 1) ⊕ su(1, 1).