Tribaryon configurations and the inevitable three nucleon repulsions at short distance

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that three-nucleon forces are inherently repulsive at short distances across all quantum states, explaining the origin of short-range repulsion in nuclear matter and hyperons, crucial for understanding neutron star properties.

Contribution

It provides a theoretical analysis using SU(3) flavor and spin decomposition to show the universal short-range repulsion of three-nucleon forces within a constituent quark model.

Findings

Three-nucleon forces are repulsive at short distances for all quantum states.

The origin of short-range repulsion is linked to color-spin-flavor interactions.

This work supports phenomenological models of nuclear matter and neutron stars.

Abstract

We decompose the tribaryon configuration in terms of SU(3) flavor and spin state and analyse their color-spin-flavor wave function following Pauli principle. By comparing the color-color and color-spin interactions of compact tribaryon configuration against the lowest three nucleon threshold within a constituent quark model, we show that the three nucleon forces have to be repulsive at short distance for all possible quantum numbers and all values of the SU(3) symmetry breaking parameter. Our work identifies the origin of the repulsive nuclear three body forces including the hyperons at short distance that are called for from phenomenological considerations starting from nuclear matter to the maximum mass of a neutron star.