Resonant states of open quantum systems

Abstract

We first show that quantum resonant states observe particle number conservation and hence are consistent with the probabilistic interpretation of quantum mechanics. We then present for a class of quantum open systems, a resonant-state expansion of the sum of the retarded and advanced Green's functions. The expansion is given purely in terms of all discrete eigenstates and does not contain any background integrals. Using the expansion, we argue that the Fano asymmetry of resonance peaks is interpreted as interference between discrete eigenstates. We microscopically derive the Fano parameters for several cases.