Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-22-2022
Abstract
The operational approach to time is a cornerstone of relativistic theories, as evidenced by the notion of proper time. In standard quantum mechanics, however, time is an external parameter. Recently, many attempts have been made to extend the notion of proper time to quantum mechanics within a relational framework. Here, we use similar ideas combined with the relativistic mass-energy equivalence to study an accelerating massive quantum particle with an internal clock system. We show that the ensuing evolution from the perspective of the particle’s internal clock is non-Hermitian. This result does not rely on specific implementations of the clock. As a particular consequence, we prove that the effective Hamiltonian of two gravitationally interacting particles is non-Hermitian from the perspective of the clock of either particle.
Recommended Citation
Paiva, I.L., Te’eni, A., Peled, B.Y. et al. Non-inertial quantum clock frames lead to non-Hermitian dynamics. Commun Phys 5, 298 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-022-01081-0
Peer Reviewed
1
Copyright
The authors
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Comments
This article was originally published in Communications Physics, volume 5, in 2022. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-022-01081-0