Abstract
The amplitudes for πN single-pion production are decomposed into four independent isospin amplitudes in the (ππ)N representation. Reaction cross sections for the πp and π+p initial states below total energies of 1370 and 1470 MeV, respectively, are simultaneously fitted with near-threshold measurements of the double-differential cross section d2σdΩdT for the π+ produced in πpπ+πn. The validity of soft-pion calculations for πNππN is demonstrated by showing that the threshold s-wave isospin amplitudes can be described consistently by a single value of the chiral-symmetry-breaking parameter.