Precision calculation of the quartet-channel p-d scattering length

Abstract

We present a fully perturbative calculation of the quartet-channel proton--deuteron scattering length up to next-to-next-to-leading order in pionless effective field theory. We use a framework that consistently extracts the Coulomb-modified effective range function for a screened Coulomb potential in momentum space and allows for a clear linear extrapolation back to the physical limit without screening. Our result of (10.9 +/- 0.4) fm agrees with older experimental determinations of this quantity but deviates from potential-model calculations and a more recent result from Black et al., which find larger values around 14 fm. As a possible resolution to this discrepancy, we discuss the scheme dependence of Coulomb subtractions in a three-body system.