Three-Nucleon-Forces: Where Are They?

Dirk Hueber, LANL

Certainly three-nucleon-forces exist, as we can derive them from the meson-exchange picture for example. But how big are they? Can we see them? The first system to look for three-nucleon-force effects is the three-nucleon system. For this system we are able to solve the Faddeev equations rigorously. The inclusion of three-nucleon-forces into the Faddeev equations is non-trivial and technically difficult. Up to now there is little evidence that three-nucleon-forces are really needed in order to explain the experimental three-nucleon data. However, our latest results indicate that in some cases three-nucleon-forces are necessary. Of course, many important questions about three-nucleon-forces remain still open.