Consistency checks for two-body finite-volume matrix elements: Conserved currents and bound states

Recently, a framework has been developed to study form factors of two-hadron states probed by an external current. The method is based on relating finite-volume matrix elements, computed using numerical lattice QCD, to the corresponding infinite-volume observables. As the formalism is complicated, it is important to provide nontrivial checks on the final results and also to explore limiting cases in which more straightforward predictions may be extracted. In this work we provide examples on both fronts. First, we show that, in the case of a conserved vector current, the formalism ensures that the finite-volume matrix element of the conserved charge is volume independent and equal to the total charge of the two-particle state. Second, we study the implications for a two-particle bound state. We demonstrate that the infinite-volume limit reproduces the expected matrix element and derive the leading finite-volume corrections to this result for a scalar current. Finally, we provide numerical estimates for the expected size of volume effects in future lattice QCD calculations of the deuteron’s scalar charge. We find that these effects completely dominate the infinite-volume result for realistic lattice volumes and that applying the present formalism, to analytically remove an infinite series of leading volume corrections, is crucial to reliably extract the infinite-volume charge of the state.