  Coulomb correlations in the optical spectra of semiconductor quantum dots are
investigated using a full-diagonalization approach. The resulting multi-exciton
spectra are discussed in terms of the symmetry of the involved states.
Characteristic features of the spectra like the nearly equidistantly spaced
s-shell emission lines and the approximately constant p-shell transition
energies are explained using simplified Hamiltonians that are derived taking
into account the relative importance of various interaction contributions.
Comparisons with previous results in the literature and their interpretation
are made.
