Rotation of a self-bound many-body system

We discuss the rotational excitations of highly quantum many-body systems (for example, polyatomic molecules or microdroplets of helium). For a general system, the states F?, where and ? is a rotationally invariant ground or vibrational state, are shown to be eigenfunctions of L ² and L_z , with eigenvalues L(L+1)? ² and L? (for even L). These wavefunctions preserve the translational invariance and the permutation and inversion symmetries of the N-particle state ?. For harmonic pair interactions, the f = 1 wavefunctions are shown to be exact eigenstates of the N-body hamiltonian. For large N, the states F?(f=1) represent surface oscillations of the type first proposed by Bohr. An inequality for the rotational excitation energy is obtained variationally; it depends on two, three, and four-particle correlations. Other translationally invariant angular momentum eigenfunctions are also discussed.