The two-nucleon system above pion threshold

A force model is presented for the description of the two-nucleon system below and above pion threshold and its coupled inelastic channels with one pion. It uses Δ-isobar and pion degrees of freedom in addition to the nucleonic one. The force model is based on a hamiltonian approach within the framework of noncovariant quantum mechanics. It extends the traditional approach with purely nucleonic potentials in isospin-triplet partial waves. It is constructed to remain valid up to 500 MeV c.m. energy. The characteristics of the force model is its mechanism for pion production and pion absorption which is mediated by the Δ-isobar. Even without any fit of phenomenological parameters the force model is able to account for the experimental data of elastic nucleon-nucleon scattering' of the inelastic reactions pp ↔ π+ d and of elastic pion-deuteron scattering with satisfactory accuracy. No need for the introduction of dibaryon degrees of freedom has been found yet. The force model is a realistic one in the two-nucleon system. In many-nucleon systems it forms the unifying basis for a microscopic description of nuclear structure and nuclear reactions at low and intermediate energies. (orig.)