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Normalize the ring modes as ${\phi }_j(x)=L^{-1/2}{e}^{i{k}_{j}x}$, with distinct $k_j=2\pi {\ell }_j/L$ and integers ${\ell }_j$. Inserting $\hat{\psi }(x)={\phi }_1(x)a_1+{\phi }_2(x)a_2$ into the contact interaction givesOrthogonality makes $I_{ijkl}=1/L$ when $k_i+k_j=k_k+k_l$, and zero otherwise: this is momentum conservation in the projected Hamiltonian operator. There is one all-mode-1 term, one all-mode-2 term, and four mixed terms with one particle in each mode. A pair conversion between distinct ring modes would require $2k_1=2k_2$ and therefore vanishes.

Using $a_j^{†2}{a}_j^2=n_j(n_j-1)$ and $a_1^{†}{a}_2^{†}{a}_1{a}_2=n_1{n}_2$ yields the contact interaction between two ring modes,The factor four comes from two independent choices of ordering for the creation operators and annihilation operators. This is the two-mode projected model; a full ring contact interaction can also scatter particles into other modes while conserving total momentum.

At fixed particle number $N$, write $n_1=n$ and $n_2=N-n$. The contact interaction between two ring modes has energy eigenvaluesFor $g>0$, the nonnegative product $n(N-n)$ is minimized at the endpoints. ConsequentlyFor $N\ge 1$ this is a two-dimensional degenerate ground state subspace. $N=0$ instead has the unique Fock vacuum. In this projected model, putting all particles into one traveling mode avoids the extra exchange contribution paid when both distinct modes are occupied.

For the alternative coefficients, put $\alpha =\beta =A<0$ and $\gamma =0$. Then $E(n)=A[N(N-1)-2n(N-n)]$ is again minimized at $n=0,N$, with $E_{\min }=AN(N-1)$. Evenness of $N$ is unnecessary for this result; the balanced Fock state maximizes this attractive-interaction energy instead of minimizing it.

Add the one-particle energy term $H_0={ϵ}_1{n}_1+{ϵ}_2{n}_2$. It is diagonal in the same Fock state basis as the contact interaction between two ring modes. For $N=2$, the ordered basis $(|2,0⟩,|1,1⟩,|0,2⟩)$ givesFor $g>0$, the middle eigenvalue exceeds the mean of the two endpoint eigenvalues by $g/L$, so it cannot be the smallest. The ground state is therefore $|2,0⟩$ if ${ϵ}_1<{ϵ}_2$, and $|0,2⟩$ if ${ϵ}_2<{ϵ}_1$, withIf ${ϵ}_1={ϵ}_2$, every normalized linear combination of the two endpoint Fock states is a ground state. The same endpoint argument works for general fixed $N$, since the interaction contribution is a concave quadratic function of the mode occupation number.