Amplitude structure of $3\to 3$ scattering in a Mandelstam variable representation

Abstract

We construct a dispersive representation of the relativistic $3\to 3$ scattering amplitude for three identical spinless particles in the $S$-wave. The two-particle subenergy, instead of the total energy, is used as the dispersive variable. This choice keeps the physical dispersive contour free of the kinematical cuts that complicate total-energy dispersion relations. By separating discontinuities across the two-particle subenergy cuts from that across the three-body cut, we derive a linear integral equation with one-particle exchange as the driving term. We further show that the solution satisfies three-body unitarity as a consequence of two-body unitarity, analyticity, and crossing symmetry. For pair-wise interactions, this representation can be rewritten into the form used for isobar-spectator scattering. Finally, we give prescriptions for contour deformation and the subtraction of poles in the two-body subsystem amplitudes, which continue the amplitude onto adjacent unphysical Riemann sheets and thus provide direct access to the analytic structure relevant for three-body resonance poles.