Volume Dependence of the Axial Charge of the Nucleon

It is shown that the strong volume-dependence of the axial charge of the nucleon seen in lattice QCD calculations can be understood quantitatively in terms of the pion-induced interactions between neighbouring nucleons. The associated wave function renormalization leads to an increased suppression of the axial charge as the strength of the interaction increases, either because of a decrease in lattice size or in pion mass.