Three-Nucleon Force and the $Δ$-Mechanism for Pion Production and Pion Absorption

Abstract

The description of the three-nucleon system in terms of nucleon and $Δ$ degrees of freedom is extended to allow for explicit pion production (absorption) from single dynamic $Δ$ de-excitation (excitation) processes. This mechanism yields an energy dependent effective three-body hamiltonean. The Faddeev equations for the trinucleon bound state are solved with a force model that has already been tested in the two-nucleon system above pion-production threshold. The binding energy and other bound state properties are calculated. The contribution to the effective three-nucleon force arising from the pionic degrees of freedom is evaluated. The validity of previous coupled-channel calculations with explicit but stable $Δ$ isobar components in the wavefunction is studied.