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Deuterons are atomic nuclei composed of a neutron and a proton held together by the strong interaction. Unbound ensembles composed of a deuteron and a third nucleon have been investigated in the past using scattering experiments, and they constitute a fundamental reference in nuclear physics to constrain nuclear interactions and the properties of nuclei. In this work, and femtoscopic correlations measured by the ALICE Collaboration in proton-proton ( ) collisions at at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are presented. It is demonstrated that correlations in momentum space between deuterons and kaons or protons allow us to study three-hadron systems at distances comparable with the proton radius. The analysis of the correlation shows that the relative distances at which deuterons and protons or kaons are produced are around 2 fm. The analysis of the correlation shows that only a full three-body calculation that accounts for the internal structure of the deuteron can explain the data. In particular, the sensitivity of the observable to the short-range part of the interaction is demonstrated. These results indicate that correlations involving light nuclei in collisions at the LHC will also provide access to any three-body system in the strange and charm sectors. Published by the American Physical Society2024more » « less
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