On the Stability Domain of Systems of Three Arbitrary Charges

We present results on the stability of quantum systems consisting of a negative charge $-q_1$ with mass $m_{1}$ and two positive charges $q_2$ and $q_3$, with masses $m_{2}$ and $m_{3}$, respectively. We show that, for given masses $m_{i}$, each instability domain is convex in the plane of the variables $(q_{1}/q_{2}, q_{1}/q_{3})$. A new proof is given of the instability of muonic ions $(\alpha, p, \mu^-)$. We then study stability in some critical regimes where $q_3\ll q_2$: stability is sometimes restricted to large values of some mass ratios; the behaviour of the stability frontier is established to leading order in $q_3/q_2$. Finally we present some conjectures about the shape of the stability domain, both for given masses and varying charges, and for given charges and varying masses.Comment: Latex, 24 pages, 14 figures (some in latex, some in .eps

Borromean Binding of Three or Four Bosons

We estimate the ratio $R=g_{3}/g_{2}$ of the critical coupling constants $g_{2}$ and $g_{3}$ which are required to achieve binding of 2 or 3 bosons, respectively, with a short-range interaction, and examine how this ratio depends on the shape of the potential. Simple monotonous potentials give $R\simeq 0.8$. A wide repulsive core pushes this ratio close to R=1. On the other hand, for an attractive well protected by an external repulsive barrier, the ratio approaches the rigorous lower bound $R=2/3$. We also present results for N=4 bosons, sketch the extension to $N>4$, and discuss various consequences.Comment: 12 pages, RevTeX, 5 Figures in tex include