Natural orbitals, overlap functions, and mean-field orbitals in an exactly solvable A-body system

We consider a simple but nontrivial many-body system interacting through short-range forces, and confirm a property of such systems that was recently proposed on general grounds, namely, that single-particle overlap functions, spectroscopic factors, and separation energies of the bound (A-1)-particle eigenstates can be derived from the one-body density matrix of the A-particle system in its ground state. The basis of natural orbitals for the system is constructed and its properties are discussed. We also investigate the high-momentum content of the bound-state overlap functions and momentum distribution. It is found that the mean field provides a good approximation for the bound-state overlap functions even in the region of large momenta, where the total momentum distribution is already enhanced by several orders of magnitude over the mean-field result. © 1996 The American Physical Society.