Influence of surrounding matter on the properties of clusters is consi
dered by an approach combining the methods of statistical and quantum
mechanics. A cluster is treated as a bound N-particle system and surro
unding matter as thermostat. It is shown that, despite arbitrary stron
g interactions between particles, cluster energy can be calculated by
using the controlled perturbation theory. The accuracy of the latter i
s found to be much higher than that of the quasiclassical approximatio
n. Spectral distribution is obtained by minimizing conditional entropy
. Increasing the thermostat temperature leads to the depletion of boun
d states. The characteristic temperature when bound states become esse
ntially depleated defines the temperature of cluster evaporation. The
inverse process of lowering the thermostate temperature, yielding the
filling of bound states, corresponds to cluster condensation.