Three-body forces: From cold atoms to nuclei

TL;DR

This paper discusses the significance of three-body forces in quantum systems, emphasizing their natural emergence in effective field theories and their critical role in atomic and nuclear physics, especially in nuclear structure and astrophysics.

Contribution

It highlights the importance of three-body forces in strongly interacting quantum systems and discusses their implications in nuclear physics and related fields.

Findings

Three-body forces are essential in accurately modeling nuclear systems.

Effective field theories naturally incorporate three-body interactions.

Three-nucleon forces impact nuclear structure, reactions, and astrophysical processes.

Abstract

It is often assumed that few- and many-body systems can be accurately described by considering only pairwise two-body interactions of the constituents. We illustrate that three- and higher-body forces enter naturally in effective field theories and are especially prominent in strongly interacting quantum systems. We focus on three-body forces and discuss examples from atomic and nuclear physics. In particular, we highlight the importance and the challenges of three-nucleon forces for nuclear structure and reactions, including applications to astrophysics and fundamental symmetries.