Modern nucleon-nucleon interactions and charge-symmetry breaking in nuclei

Abstract

Coulomb displacement energies, i.e., the differences between the energies of corresponding nuclear states in mirror nuclei, are evaluated using recent models for the nucleon-nucleon (NN) interaction. These modern NN potentials account for breaking of isospin symmetry and reproduce $pp$ and $pn$ phase shifts accurately. The predictions by these new potentials for the binding of $^{16}O$ are calculated. A particular focus of our study are effects due to nuclear correlations and charge-symmetry breaking (CSB). We find that the CSB terms in the modern NN interactions substantially reduce the discrepancy between theory and experiment for the Coulomb displacement energies; however, our calculations do not completely explain the Nolen-Schiffer anomaly. Potential sources for the remaining discrepancies are discussed.