Revealing the origin of super-Efimov states in the hyperspherical formalism

Quantum effects can give rise to exotic Borromean three-body bound states even when any two-body subsystems can not bound. An outstanding example is the Efimov states for certain three-body systems with resonant $s$-wave interactions in three dimensions. These Efimov states obey a universal exponential scaling that the ratio between the binding energies of successive Efimov states is a universal number. Recently a field-theoretic calculation predicted a new kind of universal three-body bound states for three identical fermions with resonant $p$-wave interactions in two dimensions. These states were called ``super-Efimov'' states due to their binding energies $E_n=E_*\exp(-2 e^{\pi n/s_0+\theta})$ obeying an even more dramatic double exponential scaling. The scaling $s_0=4/3$ was found to be universal while $E_*$ and $\theta$ are the three-body parameters. Here we use the hyperspherical formalism and show that the ``super-Efimov'' states originate from an emergent effective potential $-1/4\rho^2-(s_0^2+1/4)/\rho^2\ln^2\left(\rho\right)$ at large hyperradius $\rho$. Moreover, our numerical calculation indicates that the three-body parameters $E_*$ and $\theta$ are also universal for pairwise interparticle potentials with a van der Waals tail.