Meson production near threshold: physics implications and new technical challenges

Recently, the study of pion production in few-nucleon systems has been advanced considerably, mainly due to experiments using internal targets in stored, cooled beams. Experimental progress has inspired theoretical insights: from measurements close to threshold we have learned that an enhancement of the axial charge caused by heavy-meson exchange significantly contributes to pion production. The study of the production of pions, as well as heavier mesons, with stored polarized beams and polarized internal targets is likely to heave important consequences for our understanding of the nuclear force. (author). 42 refs, 11 figs