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Traditionally three-nucleon calculations are carried out by solving Faddeev equations in a partial wave truncated basis, working either in momentum or coordinate space. We solve them directly as function of vector variables. The key advantage of our approach lies in its applicability at higher energies, where special relativity is expected to become relevant. We investigate relativistic three-boson scattering in the framework of Poincare invariant quantum mechanics. The main point here is the construction of unitary irreducible representations of the Poincare group, both for noninteracting and interacting particles. For three-body scattering the Faddeev scheme is reformulated relativistically.
Comparison of scattering observables obtained from relativistic and non-relativistic calculations based on simple Yukawa-type interactions lead to observations that should be relevant for more sophisticated interactions. These comparisons do not involve taking non-relativistic limits. Instead relativistic and non-relativistic three-body calculations are compared that contain interactions fitted to the same two-body data. All of the observed differences result form the different ways in which the two-body dynamics appears in the three-body problem.