The three-body force in the trinucleons

The status of three-body forces in nuclear physics within the context of the trinucleon system is reviewed. The theoretical approaches of the Hannover, Brazilian, Tuscon-Melbourne, and Urbana-Argonne groups to modeling the three-nucleon force are outlined and compared. Results of numerical calculations based upon contemporary NN forces alone plus those utilizing these three-body interactions are summarized for various bound-state observables and the Fourier transform of the charge density (the charge form factor in the impulse approximation) as well as selected continuum observables. Uncertainties in experimental knowledge of the NN force, which significantly affect conclusions about the size of nuclear three-body force effects, are discussed. 100 refs.; 16 figs.; 5 tabs