Giving up the ghost

الأصل · EN

The Pais-Uhlenbeck model is a quantum theory described by a higher-derivative field equation. It has been believed for many years that this model possesses ghost states (quantum states of negative norm) and therefore that this model is a physically unacceptable quantum theory. The existence of such ghost states was believed to be attributable to the field equation having more than two derivatives. This paper shows that the Pais-Uhlenbeck model does not possess any ghost states at all and that it is a perfectly acceptable quantum theory. The supposed ghost states in this model arise if the Hamiltonian of the model is (incorrectly) treated as being Dirac Hermitian (invariant under combined matrix transposition and complex conjugation). However, the Hamiltonian is not Dirac Hermitian, but rather it is PT symmetric. When it is quantized correctly according to the rules of PT quantum mechanics, the energy spectrum is real and bounded below and all of the quantum states have positive norm.