The effect of hidden color channels on Nucleon-Nucleon interaction

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that including hidden color channels in quark model calculations can explain the nucleon-nucleon interaction, especially the intermediate range attraction, using only quark-gluon degrees of freedom.

Contribution

It introduces a multi-channel quark model including hidden color channels to explain NN interactions without meson exchange.

Findings

Hidden color channels provide intermediate range attraction.

Short and intermediate range NN interactions can be described by quark-gluon degrees of freedom.

The model reproduces key features of NN interaction.

Abstract

This letter reports the nucleon-nucleon($NN$) interaction obtained from multi-channel, including hidden color channels, coupling quark model calculation. The results show that the hidden color channels coupling provides the intermediate range attraction which is usually assumed to be due to multi-$\pi$ or $\sigma$ meson exchange and that the short and intermediate range $NN$ interaction can be described solely by the fundamental quark-gluon degree of freedom of QCD.