Effective Potential for \mathcal{P}\mathcal{T}-Symmetric Quantum Field Theories

Recently, a class of -invariant scalar quantum field theories described by the non-Hermitian Lagrangian = () ² +g ² (i) was studied. It was found that there are two regions of . For <0 the -invariance of the Lagrangian is spontaneously broken, and as a consequence, all but the lowest-lying energy levels are complex. For 0 the -invariance of the Lagrangian is unbroken, and the entire energy spectrum is real and positive. The subtle transition at =0 is not well understood. In this paper we initiate an investigation of this transition by carrying out a detailed numerical study of the effective potential V _eff (_c) in zero-dimensional spacetime. Although this numerical work reveals some differences between the <0 and the >0 regimes, we cannot yet see convincing evidence of the transition at =0 in the structure of the effective potential for -symmetric quantum field theories.