Parasupersymmetric quantum mechanics and indices of Fredholm operators

Abstract

The general features of the degeneracy structure of (p = 2) parasupersymmetric quantum mechanics are employed to yield a classification scheme for the form of the parasupersymmetric Hamiltonians. The method is applied to parasupersymmetric systems whose Hamiltonian is the square root of a fourth order polynomial in the generators of the parasupersymmetry. These systems are interesting to study for they lead to the introduction of a set of topological invariants very similar to the Witten indices of ordinary supersymmetric quantum mechanics. The topological invariants associated with parasupersymmetry are shown to be related to a pair of Fredholm operators satisfying two compatibility conditions. An explicit algebraic expression for the topological invariants of a class of parasupersymmetric systems is provided.