Modern NN force predictions for the total nd cross section up to 300 MeV

For several modern nucleon-nucleon potentials state-of-the-art Faddeev calculations are carried out for the nd total cross section between 10 and 300 MeV projectile energy and compared to new high precision measurements. The agreement between theory and data is rather good, with an exception at higher energies when a 10% discrepancy builds up. In addition the convergence of the multiple scattering series incorporated in the Faddeev scheme is studied numerically with the result that rescattering corrections remain important. Based on this multiple scattering series the high energy limit of the total nd cross section is also investigated analytically. In contrast to the naive expectation that the total nd cross section is the sum of the np and nn total cross sections we find additional effects resulting from the rescattering processes, which have different signs and a different behavior as a function of the energy. A shadowing effect in the high energy limit only occurs for energies higher than 300 MeV. The expressions in the high energy limit have qualitatively a similar behavior as the exactly calculated expressions, but can be expected to be valid quantitatively only at much higher energies.