We derive the three-body quantization condition in a finite volume using an effective field theory in the particle-dimer picture. Moreover, we consider the extraction of physical observables from the lattice spectrum using the quantization condition. To illustrate the general framework, we calculate the volume-dependent three-particle spectrum in a simple model both below and above the three-particle threshold. The relation to existing approaches is discussed in detail.

Using non-relativistic effective Lagrangians in the particle-dimer picture, we rederive the expression for the energy shift of a loosely bound three-particle bound state of identical bosons in the unitary limit. The effective field theory formalism allows us to explicitly investigate the role of the three-particle force. Moreover, we discuss relaxing the unitary limit of infinite scattering length and demonstrate a smooth transition from the weakly bound three-particle state to a two-particle bound state of a particle and a deeply bound dimer.

Using effective field theory methods, we discuss the extraction of the mass and width of the scalar mesons f ₀(980) and a ₀(980) from the finite-volume spectrum in lattice QCD. In particular, it is argued that the nature of these states can be studied by invoking twisted boundary conditions, as well as investigating the quark mass dependence of the spectrum.

The three-particle quantization condition is partially diagonalized in the center-of-mass frame by using cubic symmetry on the lattice. To this end, instead of spherical harmonics, the kernel of the Bethe-Salpeter equation for particle-dimer scattering is expanded in the basis functions of different irreducible representations of the octahedral group. Such a projection is of particular importance for the three-body problem in the finite volume due to the occurrence of three-body singularities above breakup. Additionally, we study the numerical solution and properties of such a projected quantization condition in a simple model. It is shown that, for large volumes, these solutions allow for an instructive interpretation of the energy eigenvalues in terms of bound and scattering states.

We study the scattering of the light-flavor pseudoscalar mesons ([equation]) off the ground-state charmed mesons ([equation]) within chiral effective field theory. The recent lattice simulation...