Determination of the 3Pj phase shifts from nucleon-nucleon data: a critical evaluation and a surprising result

It Is shown that the 3Pj neutron-proton (proton-proton) phase shifts cannot be determined to less than ± 100 % (± 20 %) uncertainty at low energies (∼ 10 MeV), even if high-accuracy nucleon-nucleon data were to become available for currently inaccessible observables. For a more accurate determination, appropriate theoretical constraints have to be invoked, but their accuracy can be judged only from the comparison of rigorous three-nucleon continuum calculations with particular three-nucleon observables. (author)