The Goldilocks model of separable, zero-range, few-body interactions in one-dimensional harmonic traps

Abstract: This article introduces the "Goldilocks model" for a few repulsively interacting particles trapped in a one-dimensional harmonic well and provides exact solutions for the three-particle case. The Goldilocks model shares features with two other well-known systems, the Calogero model and the contact-interaction model, and coincides with them in limiting cases. However, those models have purely two-body interactions whereas this model has intrinsically few-body interactions. Comparing these three models provides clarifying distinctions among the properties of symmetry, separability and integrability. The model's analytic solutions provide a useful basis to improve approximation schemes, especially near the unitary limit of hard-core contact interactions.