Partial Wave Decomposition for Meson Exchange Currents in Few-Nucleon Systems

We develop an approach for calculating matrix elements of meson exchange currents between 3N basis states in (jJ)-coupling and a 3N bound state. The contribution generated by $pi$- and $rho$-exchange are included in the consideration. The matrix elements are expressed in terms of multiple integrals in the momentum space. We apply a technique of the partial wave decompositions and carry out some angular integrations in closed form. Different representations appropriate for numerical calculations are derived for the matrix elements of interest. The momentum dependences of the matrix elements are studied and benchmark results are presented. The approach developed is of interest for the investigations of deuteron- proton radiative capture and ^3He photo- and electrodisintegration when the interaction in the initial or final nuclear states is taken into account by solving the Faddeev equations.