THE 3-BODY CONTINUUM COULOMB PROBLEM AND THE 3-ALPHA-STRUCTURE OF C-12

We introduce an approach, based on the coordinate space Faddeev equati ons, to solve the quantum mechanical three-body Coulomb problem in the continuum. We apply the approach to compute measured properties of th e first two 0(+) levels in C-12, including the width of the excited le vel, in a 3 alpha-particle model. We use the two-body interaction whic h reproduces the low energy alpha-alpha scattering data and add a thre e-body force to account for the compound state admixture.