Recombination rates from potential models close to the unitary limit

Abstract

We investigate universal behavior in the recombination rate of three bosons close to threshold. Using the He-He system as a reference, we solve the three-body Schr\"odinger equation above the dimer threshold for different potentials having large values of the two-body scattering length $a$. To this aim we use the hyperspherical adiabatic expansion and we extract the $S$-matrix through the integral relations recently derived. The results are compared to the universal form, $\alpha\approx 67.1\sin^2[s_0\ln(\kappa_*a)+\gamma]$, for different values of $a$ and selected values of the three-body parameter $\kappa_*$. A good agreement with the universal formula is obtained after introducing a particular type of finite-range corrections, which have been recently proposed by two of the authors in Ref.[1]. Furthermore, we analyze the validity of the above formula in the description of a very different system: neutron-neutron-proton recombination. Our analysis confirms the universal character of the process in systems of very different scales having a large two-body scattering length.