Spin–isospin selectivity in three-nucleon forces

Abstract Precision data are presented for the break-up reaction, H 2 ( p → , p p ) n , within the framework of nuclear-force studies. The experiment was carried out at KVI using a polarized-proton beam of 190 MeV impinging on a liquid-deuterium target and by exploiting the detector, BINA. Some of the vector-analyzing powers are presented and compared with state-of-the-art Faddeev calculations including three-nucleon forces effect. Significant discrepancies between the data and theoretical predictions were observed for kinematical configurations which correspond to the H 2 ( p → , He 2 ) n channel. These results are compared to the H 2 ( p → , d ) p reaction to test the isospin sensitivity of the present three-nucleon force models. The current modeling of two and three-nucleon forces is not sufficient to describe consistently polarization data for both isospin states.