Generalized three-body harmonic oscillator system: ground state

Abstract

In this work we report on a 3-body system in a d−dimensional space ℝd with a quadratic harmonic potential in the relative distances rij = |ri −rj| between particles. Our study considers unequal masses, different spring constants and it is defined in the three-dimensional (sub)space of solutions characterized (globally) by zero total angular momentum. This system is exactly-solvable with hidden algebra sℓ4(ℝ). It is shown that in some particular cases the system becomes maximally (minimally) superintegrable. We pay special attention to a physically relevant generalization of the model where eventually the integrability is lost. In particular, the ground state and the first excited state are determined within a perturbative framework.