Chiral nuclear forces: Current status and outstanding challenges*

During the past two decades, chiral effective field theory has evolved into the authoritative approach to derive nuclear two- and many-body forces in a systematic and model-independent way. Nowadays, most ab initio calculations of nuclear structure and reactions are conducted with chiral forces. I will summarize the state of the art in the construction of high-quality chiral nuclear forces. Moreover, I will discuss the application of these forces in ab initio calculations of few-nucleon reactions and the structure of light and intermediate-mass nuclei. Problems and open issues will be outlined and an attempt will be made to relate them to specific deficiencies of the two- and many-nucleon forces currently in use.