Complex spectral analysis and test function spaces

TL;DR

This paper analyzes complex eigenstates of unstable Hamiltonians, decomposing solution sets into physically meaningful parts, and demonstrates that test function restrictions effectively capture decay phenomena.

Contribution

It introduces a decomposition of the Lippmann-Schwinger solutions into physically relevant components and proposes test function restrictions to eliminate unphysical growth in complex eigenstates.

Findings

Test function restricted complex eigenstates accurately model decay phenomena.

Decomposition of solution sets clarifies physical interpretation of complex eigenstates.

Numerical comparisons confirm the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Abstract

We consider complex eigenstates of unstable Hamiltonian and its physically meaningful regions. Starting from a simple model of a discrete state interacting with a continuum via a general potential, we show that its Lippmann-Schwinger solution set can be decomposed into a free-field set, a set containing lower half plane pole of Green's function and a set containing upper half pole of Green's function. From here distinctive complex eigenstates corresponding to each pole are constructed. We note that on the real line square integrable functions can be decomposed into Hardy class above and below functions which behave well in their respective complex half planes. Test function restriction formulas which remove unphysical growth are given. As a specific example we consider Friedrichs model which solutions and complex eigenstates are known, and compare numerically calculated total time evolution with test function restricted complex eigenstates for various cases. The results shows that test function restricted complex eigenstates capture the essence of decay phenomena quite well.