Hilbert space partitioning for non-Hermitian Hamiltonians: From off-resonance to Zeno subspaces

Effective non-Hermitian Hamiltonians describing decaying systems are derived and analyzed in connection with the occurrence of possible Hilbert space partitioning, resulting in a confinement of the dynamics. In some cases, this fact can be interpreted properly as Zeno effect or Zeno dynamics, according to the dimension of the subspace one focuses on; in some other cases, the interpretation is more complicated and traceable back to a mix of Zeno phenomena and lack of resonance. Depending on the complex phases of the diagonal terms of the Hamiltonian, the system reacts in different ways, requiring larger moduli for the dynamical confinement to occur when the complex phase is close to π/2.