A van der Waals Characterization of the ⁴He₃ System

The ⁴He₃ system is a playground for universal physics due to the large scattering in the two-body system. The strong -1/r⁶ van der Waals tail, in particular, uniquely contributes to the features that are worthy of study. As such, I will discuss our efforts the characterize the degree to which the ⁴He}-⁴He interaction can be described by a sum of a contact-like interaction and a vdW tail and to understand whether the vdW interaction can be used as the leading order in an effective field theory description of certain classes of atoms. Such a quantification could enhance the understanding and applicability of vdW universality. I will present results in the two- and three-body sectors demonstrating the efficacy of the vdW effective theory and the possible promise of the theory's ability to quantify corrections to predictions from vdW universality.