Many-body clusters in a dense strongly interacting quantum liquid at 0°K

Abstract

A beginning is made towards determining the energy of dense and strongly interacting quantum liquids at 0 °K, starting all the way from the interparticle potential. Liquids He³ and He⁴ as well as neutron-star interiors approximate such a system. Since expansions do not converge either in powers of the interaction nor in the density, n-body clusters have to be calculated for all n and to all orders in the potential. Working within a simplified model, a method is suggested for estimating n-body contributions to the binding energy. The method is far simpler than more-direct methods thus far employed, which can be used only for low values of n. The method is verified and illustrated by comparison with these existing calculations of two-, three-, and four-body energies. A discussion is also given of the steps remaining to be taken from where this paper leaves off. Possible "pairing" and "super" properties are outside the scope of this paper.