The Status of the Pion-Nucleon Coupling Constant

Abstract

A review is given of the various determinations of the different piNN coupling constants in analyses of the low-energy pp, np, pbarp, and pi-p scattering data. The most accurate determinations are in the energy-dependent partial-wave analyses of the NN data. The recommended value is f^2 = 0.075 . A recent determination of f^2 by the Uppsala group from backward np cross sections is shown to be model dependent and inaccurate, and therefore completely uninteresting. We also argue that an accurate determination of f^2 using pp forward dispersion relations is not a realistic option.