Magnetic form factors of the trinucleons

The magnetic form factors of ³H and ³He are calculated with the Monte Carlo method from variational ground-state wave functions obtained for the Argonne and Urbana two- and three-nucleon interactions. The electromagnetic current operator contains one- and two-body terms that are constructed so as to satisfy the continuity equation with the two-nucleon potential in the Hamiltonian. The results obtained with the Argonne two-nucleon interaction are in overall agreement with the empirical values. It appears that the remaining theoretical uncertainty, in the calculation of these form factors from a given interaction model, is dominated by that in the electromagnetic form factors of the nucleon. It is found that the isovector magnetic form factors are rather sensitive to the details of the isospin-dependent tensor force, and they are much better reproduced with the Argonne than the Urbana potential. The isoscalar magnetic form factors appear to be sensitive to the spin-orbit interactions, and are better reproduced with the Urbana potential. The Argonne potential has a stronger τ₁⋅τ₂ tensor force, while the Urbana one has a shorter-range spin-orbit interaction.