ONE-DIMENSIONAL QUASI-RELATIVISTIC PARTICLE IN THE BOX

The eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the one-dimensional quasi-relativistic Hamiltonian (-ℏ2c2d2/dx2 + m2c4)1/2 + V well (x) (the Klein–Gordon square-root operator with electrostatic potential) with the infinite square well potential V well (x) are studied. Eigenvalues represent energies of a "massive particle in the box" quasi-relativistic model. Approximations to eigenvalues λn are given, uniformly in n, ℏ, m, c and a, with error less than C1ℏca-1 exp (-C2ℏ-1mca)n-1. Here 2a is the width of the potential well. As a consequence, the spectrum is simple and the nth eigenvalue is equal to (nπ/2 - π/8)ℏc/a + O(1/n) as n → ∞. Non-relativistic, zero mass and semi-classical asymptotic expansions are included as special cases. In the final part, some L2 and L∞ properties of eigenfunctions are studied.

PT symmetry as a necessary and sufficient condition for unitary time evolution

While Hermiticity of a time-independent Hamiltonian leads to unitary time evolution, in and of itself, the requirement of Hermiticity is only sufficient for unitary time evolution. In this paper, we provide conditions that are both necessary and sufficient. We show that symmetry of a time-independent Hamiltonian, or equivalently, reality of the secular equation that determines its eigenvalues, is both necessary and sufficient for unitary time evolution. For any -symmetric Hamiltonian H , there always exists an operator V that relates H to its Hermitian adjoint according to V HV −1 = H † . When the energy spectrum of H is complete, Hilbert space norms 〈 ψ 1 | V | ψ 2 〉 constructed with this V are always preserved in time. With the energy eigenvalues of a real secular equation being either real or appearing in complex conjugate pairs, we thus establish the unitarity of time evolution in both cases. We also establish the unitarity of time evolution for Hamiltonians whose energy spectra are not complete. We show that when the energy eigenvalues of a Hamiltonian are real and complete, the operator V is a positive Hermitian operator, which has an associated square root operator that can be used to bring the Hamiltonian to a Hermitian form. We show that systems with -symmetric Hamiltonians obey causality. We note that Hermitian theories are ordinarily associated with a path integral quantization prescription in which the path integral measure is real, while in contrast, non-Hermitian but -symmetric theories are ordinarily associated with path integrals in which the measure needs to be complex, but in which the Euclidean time continuation of the path integral is nonetheless real. Just as the second-order Klein–Gordon theory is stabilized against transitions to negative frequencies because its Hamiltonian is positive-definite, through symmetry, the fourth-order derivative Pais–Uhlenbeck theory can equally be stabilized.

Reducing two-way splitting error of FFD method in dual domains

The Fourier finite-difference (FFD) method is very popular in seismic depth migration. But its straightforward 3D extension creates two-way splitting error due to ignoring the cross terms of spatial partial derivatives. Traditional correction schemes, either in the spatial domain by the implicit finite-difference method or in the wavenumber domain by phase compensation, lead to substantially increased computational costs or numerical difficulties for strong velocity contrasts. We propose compensating the two-way splitting error in dual domains, alternately in the spatial and wavenumber domains via Fourier transform. First, we organize the expanded square-root operator in terms of two-way splitting FFD plus the usually ignored cross terms. Second, we select a group of optimized coefficients to maximize the accuracy of propagation in both inline and crossline directions without yet considering the diagonal directions. Finally, we further optimize the constant coefficient of the compensation part to further improve the overall accuracy of the operator. In implementation, the compensation terms are similar to the high-order corrections of the generalized-screen method, but their functions are to compensate the two-way splitting error rather than the expansion error. Numerical experiments show that optimized one-term compensation can achieve nearly perfect circular impulse responses and the propagation angle with less than 1% error for all azimuths is improved up to 60° from 35°. Compared with traditional single-domain methods, our scheme can handle lateral velocity variations (even for strong velocity contrasts) much more easily with only one additional Fourier transform based on the two-way splitting FFD method, which helps retain the computational efficiency.

Wave-equation global datuming based on the double square root operator

Current schemes for removing near-surface effects in seismic data processing use either static corrections or wave-equation datuming (WED). In the presence of rough topography and strong lateral velocity variations in the near surface, the WED scheme is the only option available. However, the traditional procedure of WED downward continues the sources and receivers in different domains. A new wave-equation global-datuming method is based on the double-square-root operator, implementing the wavefield continuation in a single domain following the survey sinking concept. This method has fewer approximations and therefore is more robust and convenient than the traditional WED methods. This method is compared with the traditional methods using a synthetic data example.

Optimized Chebyshev Fourier migration: A wide-angle dual-domain method for media with strong velocity contrasts

A wide-angle propagator is essential when imaging complex media with strong lateral velocity contrasts in one-way wave-equation migration. We have developed a dual-domain one-way propagator using truncated Chebyshev polynomials and a globally optimized scheme. Our method increases the accuracy of the expanded square-root operator by adding two high-order terms to the traditional split-step Fourier propagator. First, we approximate the square-root operator using Taylor expansion around the reference background velocity. Then, we apply the first-kind Chebyshev polynomials to economize the results of the Taylor expansion. Finally, we optimize the constant coefficients using the globally optimized scheme, which are fixed and feasible for arbitrary velocity models. Theoretical analysis and nu-merical experiments have demonstrated that the method has veryhigh accuracy and exceeds the unoptimized Fourier finite-difference propagator for the entire range of practical velocity contrasts. The accurate propagation angle of the method is always about 60° under the relative error of 1% for complex media with weak, moderate, and even strong lateral velocity contrasts. The method allows us to handle wide-angle propagations and strong lateral velocity contrast simultaneously by using Fourier transform alone. Only four 2D Fourier transforms are required for each step of 3D wavefield extrapolation, and the computing cost is similar to that of the Fourier finite-difference method. Compared with the finite-difference method, our method has no two-way splitting error (i.e., azimuthal-anisotropy error) for 3D cases and almost no numerical dispersion for coarse grids. In addition, it has strong potential to be accelerated when an enhanced fast Fourier transform algorithm emerges.

Prestack wave-equation depth migration in elliptical coordinates

We extend Riemannian wavefield extrapolation (RWE) to prestack migration using 2D elliptical-coordinate systems. The corresponding 2D elliptical extrapolation wavenumber introduces only an isotropic slowness model stretch to the single-square-root operator. This enables the use of existing Cartesian finite-difference extrapolators for propagating wavefields on elliptical meshes. A poststack migration example illustrates advantages of elliptical coordinates for imaging turning waves. A 2D imaging test using a velocity-benchmark data set demonstrates that the RWE prestack migration algorithm generates high-quality prestack migration images that are more accurate than those generated by Cartesian operators of the equivalent accuracy. Even in situations in which RWE geometries are used, a high-order implementation of the one-way extrapolator operator is required for accurate propagation and imaging. Elliptical-cylindrical and oblate-spheroidal geometries are potential extensions of the analytical approach to 3D RWE-coordinate systems.