Matrix elements of two-body operators between many-particle permutational symmetry-adapted functions in hyperspherical coordinates are constructed. The matrix elements are evaluated using the appropriate hyperspherical coefficients of fractional parentage, the Raynal-Revai coefficients, and the hyperspherical recoupling coefficients. We use the power expansion of the two-body operators and obtain an analytic expression for the matrix element of each term. These expressions are studied numerically. The results allow precise evaluations of two-body matrix elements for few-body calculations in nuclear, atomic, and molecular physics.
Adopting the so-called "genealogical construction," one can express the eigenstates of collective operators corresponding to a specified mode for an
N-atom system in terms of those for an ($N\ensuremath{-}1$)-atom system. Using these Dicke states as bases and using the Wigner-Eckart theorem, a matrix element of a collective operator of an arbitrary mode can be written as the product of an
m-dependent factor and an
m-independent reduced matrix element (RME). A set of recursion formulas for the RME is obtained. A graphical representation of the RME on the branching diagram for binary irreducible representations of permutation groups is then introduced. This gives a simple and systematic way of calculating the RME. This method is especially useful when the cooperation number
r is close to
2N, where almost exact asymptotic expressions can be obtained easily. The result shows explicitly the geometry dependence of superradiance and the relative importance of
r-conserving and
r-nonconserving processes. This clears up the chief difficulty encountered in the Dicke-Schwendimann approach to the problem of
N two-level atoms, spread over large regions, interacting with a multimode radiation field.
Adopting the so-called genealogical construction, the eigenstates of collective operators can be expressed corresponding to a specified mode for an N-atom system in terms of those for an (N-1)-atom system. Matrix element of a collective operator of an arbitrary mode is presented which can be written as the product of an m-dependent factor and an m-independent reduced matrix element (RME). A set of recursion formulas for the RME was obtained. A graphical representation of the RME on the branching diagram for binary irreducible representations of permutation groups was then introduced. This gave a simple and systematic way of calculating the RME. Results show explicitly the geometry dependence of superradiance and the relative importance of r-conserving and r-nonconserving processes and clears up the chief difficulty encounted in the problem of N two-level atoms, spread over large regions, interacting with a multimode radiation field.