After recalling different formulations of the definition of supersymmetric quantum mechanics given in the literature, we discuss the relationships between them in order to provide an answer to the question raised in the title.
A N=4 supersymmetric matrix KP hierarchy is proposed and a wide class of its reductions which are characterized by a finite number of fields are described. This class includes the one-dimensional reduction of the two-dimensional N=(2|2) superconformal Toda lattice hierarchy possessing the N=4 supersymmetry -- the N=4 Toda chain hierarchy -- which may be relevant in the construction of supersymmetric matrix models. The Lax pair representations of the bosonic and fermionic flows, corresponding local and nonlocal Hamiltonians, finite and infinite discrete symmetries, the first two Hamiltonian structures and the recursion operator connecting all evolution equations and the Hamiltonian structures of the N=4 Toda chain hierarchy are constructed in explicit form. Its secondary reduction to the N=2 supersymmetric alpha=-2 KdV hierarchy is discussed.
Diagonalizable pseudo-Hermitian Hamiltonians with real and discrete spectra, which are superpartners of Hermitian Hamiltonians, must be $eta$-pseudo-Hermitian with Hermitian, positive-definite and non-singular $eta$ operators. We show that despite the fact that an $eta$ operator produced by a supersymmetric transformation, corresponding to the exact supersymmetry, is singular, it can be used to find the eigenfunctions of a Hermitian operator equivalent to the given pseudo-Hermitian Hamiltonian. Once the eigenfunctions of the Hermitian operator are found the operator may be reconstructed with the help of the spectral decomposition.
We construct L-theory with complex coefficients from the geometry of 1|2-dimensional perturbative mechanics. Methods of perturbative quantization lead to wrong-way maps that we identify with those coming from the MSO-orientation of L-theory tensored with the complex numbers.
The Newton--Hooke duality and its generalization to arbitrary power laws in classical, semiclassical and quantum mechanics are discussed. We pursue a view that the power-law duality is a symmetry of the action under a set of duality operations. The power dual symmetry is defined by invariance and reciprocity of the action in the form of Hamiltons characteristic function. We find that the power-law duality is basically a classical notion and breaks down at the level of angular quantization. We propose an ad hoc procedure to preserve the dual symmetry in quantum mechanics. The energy-coupling exchange maps required as part of the duality operations that take one system to another lead to an energy formula that relates the new energy to the old energy. The transformation property of {the} Green function satisfying the radial Schrodinger equation yields a formula that relates the new Green function to the old one. The energy spectrum of the linear motion in a fractional power potential is semiclassically evaluated. We find a way to show the Coulomb--Hooke duality in the supersymmetric semiclassical action. We also study the confinement potential problem with the help of the dual structure of a two-term power potential.
Professor Chen Ning Yang has made seminal and influential contributions in many different areas in theoretical physics. This talk focuses on his contributions in statistical mechanics, a field in which Professor Yang has held a continual interest for over sixty years. His Masters thesis was on a theory of binary alloys with multi-site interactions, some 30 years before others studied the problem. Likewise, his other works opened the door and led to subsequent developments in many areas of modern day statistical mechanics and mathematical physics. He made seminal contributions in a wide array of topics, ranging from the fundamental theory of phase transitions, the Ising model, Heisenberg spin chains, lattice models, and the Yang-Baxter equation, to the emergence of Yangian in quantum groups. These topics and their ramifications will be discussed in this talk.