Toward a many-body treatment of Hamiltonian lattice SU(N) gauge theory

We develop a consistent approach to Hamiltonian lattice gauge theory, using the maximal-tree gauge. The various constraints are discussed and implemen ted. An independent and complete set of variables for the colourless sector is determined. A general scheme to construct the eigenstates of the electr ic energy operator using a symbolic method is described. It is shown how th e one-plaquette problem can be mapped onto an ni-fermion problem. Explicit solutions for U(1), SU(2), SU(3), SU(4), and SU(5) lattice gauge theory are shown. (C) 2000 Academic Press.