Many-Body Schrödinger Equation

Spectral properties for Schrödinger operators are a major concern in quantum mechanics both in physics and in mathematics. For the few-particle systems, we now have sufficient knowledge for two-body systems, although much less is known about N-body systems. The asymptotic completeness of time-dependent wave operators was proved in the 1980s and was a landmark in the study of the N-body problem. However, many problems are left open for the stationary N-particle equation. Due to the recent rapid development of computer power, it is now possible to compute the three-body scattering problem numerically, in which the stationary formulation of scattering is used. This means that the stationary theory for N-body Schrödinger operators remains an important problem of quantum mechanics. It is stressed here that for the three-body problem, we have a satisfactory stationary theory. This book is devoted to the mathematical aspects of the N-body problem from both the time-dependent and stationary viewpoints. The main themes are: