Renormalization group analysis of electromagnetic properties of the deuteron

Abstract

The role of radiative corrections in low energy nuclear physics is beginning to receive more scrutiny. We examine the impact of these corrections for the deuteron charge form factor and the radiative capture process $np \to d \gamma$ through the velocity renormalization group. In both cases, we find percent level shifts in the relevant observables after evolving the subtraction velocity to the typical velocity of nucleons in the bound state. This suggests that electromagnetic corrections constitute a non-negligible source of uncertainty in existing few-body calculations.