We propose a novel method to measure the neutron-neutron scattering length using the ${}^6\mathrm{He}(p,p\alpha )nn$ reaction in inverse kinematics at high energies. The method is based on the final-state interaction (FSI) between the neutrons after the sudden knockout of the $\alpha$ particle. We show that the details of the neutron-neutron relative-energy distribution allow for a precise extraction of the $s$-wave scattering length. We present the state of the art in regard to the theory of this distribution. The distribution is calculated in two steps. First, we calculate the ground-state wave function of ${}^6\mathrm{He}$ as a $\alpha nn$ three-body system. For this purpose we use Halo effective field theory, which also provides uncertainty estimates for the results. We compare our results at this stage to model calculations done with the computer code face. In a second step we determine the effects of the $nn$ FSI using the $nn$ t-matrix. We compare these FSI results to approximate FSI approaches based on standard FSI enhancement factors. While the final distribution is sensitive to the $nn$ scattering length, it depends only weakly on the effective range. Throughout we emphasize the impact of theoretical uncertainties on the neutron-neutron relative-energy distribution, and discuss the extent to which those uncertainties limit the extraction of the neutron-neutron scattering length from the reaction ${}^6\mathrm{He}(p,p\alpha )nn$.

• Received 10 March 2021
• Revised 1 June 2021
• Accepted 6 July 2021

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.104.024001