Chiral Symmetry and the Nucleon-Nucleon Interaction: Developing an Accurate NN Potential Based upon Chiral Effective Field Theory

Abstract

We present an accurate nucleon-nucleon (NN) potential based upon chiral effective Lagrangians. The model includes one- and two-pion exchange contributions up to chiral order three and contact terms (which represent the short range force) up to order four. Within this framework, the NN phase shifts below 300 MeV lab. energy and the properties of the deuteron are reproduced with high-precision. This chiral NN potential may serve as a reliable starting point for testing the chiral effective field theory approach in exact few-nucleon and microscopic nuclear many-body calculations.