Mathematics

We study the stability problem for a non-relativistic quantum system in\\r\\ndimension three composed by $ N \\\\geq 2 $ identical fermions, with unit mass,\\r\\ninteracting with a different particle, with mass $ m $, via a zero-range\\r\\ninteraction of strength $ \\\\alpha \\\\in \\\\R $. We construct the corresponding\\r\\nrenormalised quadratic (or energy) form $ \\\\form $ and the so-called\\r\\nSkornyakov-Ter-Martirosyan symmetric extension $ H_{\\\\alpha} $, which is the\\r\\nnatural candidate as Hamiltonian of the system. We find a value of the mass $\\r\\nm^*(N) $ such that for $ m > m^*(N)$ the form $ \\\\form $ is closed and bounded from below. As a consequence, $ \\\\form $ defines a unique self-adjoint and bounded from below extension of $ H_{\\\\alpha}$ and therefore the system is stable. On the other hand, we also show that the form $ \\\\form $ is unbounded from below for $ m < m^*(2)$. In analogy with the well-known bosonic case, this suggests that the system is unstable for $ m < m^*(2)$ and the so-called Thomas effect occurs.