  Through the introduction of a class of appropriate translationally invariant
trial wave functions, we show that the strong correlations in the lowest Landau
level (LLL) reflect in finite systems the emergence of intrinsic point-group
symmetries associated with rotations and vibrations of molecules formed through
particle localization. This molecular description is universal, being valid for
both bosons and fermions, for both the yrast and excited states of the LLL
spectra, and for both low and high angular momenta. This physical picture is
fundamentally different from the "quantum-fluid" one associated with
Jastrow-type trial functions.
