Finite volume effects in low-energy neutron-deuteron scattering

TL;DR

This paper investigates finite-volume effects in low-energy neutron-deuteron scattering using lattice calculations within pionless effective field theory, emphasizing the importance of topological volume corrections for accurate results.

Contribution

It demonstrates the necessity of including topological finite-volume corrections in lattice simulations of neutron-deuteron scattering at low energies.

Findings

Topological finite-volume corrections significantly affect scattering length calculations.

Lattice size and spacing are crucial parameters in accurately modeling neutron-deuteron interactions.

Correcting for finite-volume effects leads to more reliable scattering data.

Abstract

We present a lattice calculation of neutron-deuteron scattering at very low energies and investigate in detail the impact of the topological finite-volume corrections. Our calculations are carried out in the framework of pionless effective field theory at leading order in the low-energy expansion. Using lattice sizes and a lattice spacing comparable to those employed in nuclear lattice simulations, we find that the topological volume corrections must be taken into account in order to obtain correct results for the neutron-proton S-wave scattering lengths.