Complex modes in unstable quadratic bosonic forms

Abstract

We discuss the necessity of using nonstandard boson operators for diagonalizing quadratic bosonic forms which are not positive definite and its convenience for describing the temporal evolution of the system. Such operators correspond to non-Hermitian coordinates and momenta and are associated with complex frequencies. As application, we examine a bosonic version of a BCS-like pairing Hamiltonian, which, in contrast with the fermionic case, is stable just for limited values of the gap parameter and requires the use of the present extended treatment for a general diagonal representation. The dynamical stability of such forms and the occurrence of nondiagonalizable cases are also discussed.