The nucleon-nucleon interaction from a realistic pseudoscalar-vector chiral lagrangian

We investigate the static nucleon-nucleon potential in the framework of a non-linear chiral meson theory. The model includes pions as well as the vector mesons ρ and ω. All parameters are fixed in the meson sector and predictions about the nucleon-nucleon interaction follow without adjusting any parameters. We use an S-matrix approach to calculate correlated two-pion exchange between two solitons. The most prominent feature of this two-pion exchange is that it leads very natural to attraction in the scalar-isoscalar channel. We also discuss the effect of πp correlations on the central potential, and present the spectral function related to the correlated two-pion exchange. Furthermore, we study the form factors of the nucleon sources related to the two-pion exchange and find that they are of dipole type with typical cutoff scales ΛD ≅ 700 MeV. We also discuss the destructive interference of π- and ρ-exchange in the isovector tensor potential. Altogether, we present a unified treatment of meson exchange phenomenology based on a serious model of the nucleon. Finally, we point out the limitations of the model and discuss some further applications. (orig.)