Nuclear matter EOS with a three-body force

The effect of a microscopic three-body force on the saturation properties o f nuclear matter is studied within the Brueckner-Hartree-Fock approach. The calculations show a decisive improvement of the saturation density along w ith an overall agreement with the empirical saturation point. With the thre e-body force the symmetry energy turns more rapidly increasing with density , which allows for the direct URCA process to occur in beta-stable neutron star matter. The influence of the three-body force on the nuclear mean fiel d does not diminish the role of the ground state correlations. (C) 2000 Pub lished by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.