CAREER: Three-body Analysis in the Finite Volume

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Strong forces are responsible for the formation of matter as we know it, but the detailed understanding of the underlying mechanism remains a challenge in the physics of hadrons, elementary particles most susceptible to the strong force. The origin of mass and the patterns of resonance phenomena within hadrons can be addressed in principle using ab-initio simulations of the strong force. Yet the connection between simulation data and the physical world represents a major conceptual problem. In this context, this project will develop and apply theoretical and computational methods intended to support the experimental program at the Jefferson National Accelerator Facility and close the gap between observed phenomena and their explanation from first principles. The PI will also develop a computer programming workshop for local high schools and will develop a course at the George Washington University to provide undergraduates with the skills necessary to analyze data in physics and other disciplines.The underlying theory of the strong force, Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), can be simulated using Lattice QCD methods on supercomputers. However, the small volumes probed in these calculations lead to numerical artefacts generally referred to as finite-volume effects. For the three particles case, these effects are not understood. As such, this project aims to develop three-body methods to enable the extrapolation of Lattice QCD results to the physical world and to help answer the fundamental question regarding the QCD predictions for the properties of excited mesons and baryons. The PI and his students will use the Faddeev formalism in the isobar approximation to addresses conceptual challenges such as three-body unitarity. Widely usable analysis tools, designed for minimal model dependence, will be developed and will be applied to the study of systems of high current interest, such as exotics, the X(3872), and the Roper resonance that exhibits notorious problems in QCD simulations.