Low-Energy Proton-Deuteron Scattering with a Coulomb-Modified Faddeev Equation

A modified version of the Faddeev three-body equation to accommodate the Coulomb interaction, which was used in the study of three-nucleon bound states, is applied to the proton-deuteron scattering problem at energies below the three-body breakup threshold. A formal derivation of the equation in a time-independent scattering theory is given. Numerical results for phase-shift parameters are presented to be compared with those of other methods and results of the phase-shift analysis. Differential cross sections and nucleon analyzing powers are calculated with the effects of three-nucleon forces, and these results are compared with recent experimental data. The difference between the nucleon analyzing power in proton-deuteron scattering and that in neutron-deuteron scattering is discussed.Received March 14, 2002; accepted September 29, 2002Published online June 27, 2003