  The partition function on the three-sphere of N=3 Chern-Simons-matter
theories can be formulated in terms of an ideal Fermi gas. In this paper we
show that, in theories with N=2 supersymmetry, the partition function
corresponds to a gas of interacting fermions in one dimension. The large N
limit is the thermodynamic limit of the gas and it can be analyzed with the
Hartree and Thomas-Fermi approximations, which lead to the known large N
solutions of these models. We use this interacting fermion picture to analyze
in detail N=2 theories with one single node. In the case of theories with no
long-range forces we incorporate exchange effects and argue that the partition
function is given by an Airy function, as in N=3 theories. For the theory with
g adjoint superfields and long-range forces, the Thomas-Fermi approximation
leads to an integral equation which determines the large N, strongly coupled
R-charge.
