PT-symmetric quantum electrodynamics

The Hamiltonian for quantum electrodynamics becomes non-Hermitian if the unrenormalized electric charge e is taken to be imaginary. However, if one also specifies that the potential A(mu) in such a theory transforms as a pseudovector rather than a vector, then the Hamiltonian becomes PT symmetric. The resulting non-Hermitian theory of electrodynamics is the analog of a spinless quantum field theory in which a pseudoscalar field phi has a cubic self-interaction of the form i phi(3). The Hamiltonian for this cubic scalar field theory has a positive spectrum, and it has recently been demonstrated that the time evolution of this theory is unitary. The proof of unitarity requires the construction of a new operator called C, which is then used to define an inner product with respect to which the Hamiltonian is self-adjoint. In this Letter the corresponding C operator for nonHermitian quantum electrodynamics is constructed perturbatively. This construction demonstrates the unitarity of the theory. Non-Hermitian quantum electrodynamics is a particularly interesting quantum field theory model because it is asymptotically free. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.