Parity anomaly in a \mathcal{P}\mathcal{T}-symmetric quartic Hamiltonian

In this paper, two independent methods are used to show that the non-Hermitian -symmetric wrong-sign quartic Hamiltonian H = (1/2m)p ² − gx ⁴ is exactly equivalent to the conventional Hermitian Hamiltonian . First, this equivalence is demonstrated by using elementary differential-equation techniques and second, it is demonstrated by using functional-integration methods. As the linear term in the Hermitian Hamiltonian is proportional to ℏ, this term is anomalous; that is, the linear term in the potential has no classical analog. The anomaly is a consequence of the broken parity symmetry of the original non-Hermitian -symmetric Hamiltonian. The anomaly term in remains unchanged if an x ² term is introduced into H. When such a quadratic term is present in H, this Hamiltonian possesses bound states. The corresponding bound states in are a direct physical measure of the anomaly. If there were no anomaly term, there would be no bound states.