Charge dependent nucleon-nucleon potentials in covariant chiral effective field theory

Abstract

The charge-dependent nucleon-nucleon ($NN$) interaction plays a crucial role in understanding the nuclear structure and reaction problems. In this work, we explore the charge-dependent $NN$ interaction in covariant chiral effective field theory. By incorporating the isospin-breaking contributions, we derive the charge-dependent covariant chiral $NN$ potential up to next-to-next-to leading order (NNLO). The calculated $np$ and $pp$ phase shifts are in satisfactory agreement with the PWA93 partial wave analysis. Our results contribute to a deeper understanding of isospin-breaking effects in nuclear forces and provide a solid foundation for future studies of nuclear structure and reactions within the covariant framework.

10 pages, 2 figures