The Bannai-Ito algebra and a superintegrable system with reflections on the 2-sphere

Abstract: A quantum superintegrable model with reflections on the 2-sphere is introduced. Its two algebraically independent constants of motion generate a central extension of the Bannai--Ito algebra. The Schrodinger equation separates in spherical coordinates and its exact solutions are presented. It is further observed that the Hamiltonian of the system arises in the addition of three representations of the sl_{-1}(2) algebra (the dynamical algebra of the one-dimensional parabosonic oscillator). The contraction from the two-sphere to the Euclidean plane yields the Dunkl oscillator in two dimensions and its Schwinger-Dunkl symmetry algebra sd(2).