  We propose variational states for the ground state and the low-energy
collective rotator excitations in negatively charged C60N- ions (N=1...5). The
approach includes the linear electron-phonon coupling and the Coulomb
interaction on the same level. The electron-phonon coupling is treated within
the effective mode approximation (EMA) which yields the linear t_{1u} x H_g
Jahn-Teller problem whereas the Coulomb interaction gives rise to Hund's rule
coupling for N=2,3,4. The Hamiltonian has accidental SO(3) symmetry which
allows an elegant formulation in terms of angular momenta. Trial states are
constructed from coherent states and using projection operators onto angular
momentum subspaces which results in good variational states for the complete
parameter range. The evaluation of the corresponding energies is to a large
extent analytical. We use the approach for a detailed analysis of the
competition between Jahn-Teller effect and Hund's rule coupling, which
determines the spin state for N=2,3,4. We calculate the low-spin/high-spin gap
for N=2,3,4 as a function of the Hund's rule coupling constant J. We find that
the experimentally measured gaps suggest a coupling constant in the range
J=60-80meV. Using a finite value for J, we recalculate the ground state
energies of the C60N- ions and find that the Jahn-Teller energy gain is partly
counterbalanced by the Hund's rule coupling. In particular, the ground state
energies for N=2,3,4 are almost equal.
