Nucleon-Nucleon Spin-Orbit Interaction and the Repulsive Core

Abstract

Recent proposals to explain the phenomenological repulsive core and spin-orbit interaction in nucleon-nucleon scattering in terms of a vector meson field are discussed. Estimates of the mass of the vector meson made on the basis of the Bryan potential may need some revision on account of insufficiently studied possibilities of modifying that potential. Estimates of interaction constants on the basis of the Signell-Zinn-Marshak potential and the replacement of a two-body relativistic problem by a one-body problem do not appear applicable. Estimates based on a covariant matrix element but neglecting wave function distortion in the analysis of 300-Mev data are shown to be quite uncertain. Accordingly the evidence for a vector meson mass of $3m_{\pi }$ or $4m_{\pi }$ also appears to have little weight.