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arxiv: 1707.05313 · v1 · submitted 2017-07-17 · 🪐 quant-ph

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Hidden antiunitary symmetry behind "accidental" degeneracy and its protection of degeneracy

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classification 🪐 quant-ph
keywords degeneracyaccidentalsymmetryantiunitaryhiddenprotectionquantumactually
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In quantum mechanics, accidental degeneracy refers to energy degeneracy that occurs coincidentally, without any protection by symmetry. Here, we prove a theorem stating that any two-fold degeneracy (accidental or not) in a quantum system is protected by a novel hidden symmetry, which can be expressed by an antiunitary operator with its square being -1. In this sense, the so-called accidental degeneracy is not really accidental, and this actually implies a hidden antiunitary symmetry.

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