REVIEW
Accurate Charge-Dependent Nucleon-Nucleon Potential at Fourth Order of Chiral Perturbation Theory
Nuclear Theory · Submitted 5 Apr 2003 · 40 references
Pith's verdict: The paper that made chiral EFT quantitatively competitive with phenomenological NN potentials, though its abstract's 'necessary and sufficient' claim outruns what a single-cutoff in-sample fit can establish.
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Referee report
The paper
The paper claims
A fourth-order chiral nucleon-nucleon potential reproduces low-energy data about as accurately as the best phenomenological potentials.
The reading
What carries the argument
The organizing device is the chiral expansion of the nucleon-nucleon amplitude in powers of $Q/�Lambda_�chi$, with $�Lambda_�chi�approx 1$ GeV, where at each order the potential separates into contact terms and irreducible pion exchanges. At N$^3$LO there are two contacts of order $Q^0$, seven of order $Q^2$, and fifteen of order $Q^4$, giving 24 contact parameters for partial waves with $L�le 2$; two more charge-dependent contacts of order $Q^0$ bring the contact count to 26. The pion sector uses static one-pion exchange at leading order and two-pion exchange through N$^3$LO, with three-pion exchange omitted because it was found negligible at this order. A regulator $�exp[-(p/�Lambda)^{2n}-(p'/�Lambda)^{2n}]$ with $�Lambda=0.5$ GeV suppresses high momenta without altering terms through $Q^4$, and the potential is inserted into a Lippmann-Schwinger equation to obtain phase shifts and observables. Three of the eight $�pi N$ low-energy constants, $c_2$, $c_3$, and $c_4$, are varied in the fit, making 29 parameters in total.
Extended reading notes
Core claim
The central claim is that the fourth-order chiral potential is the first derived from chiral perturbation theory to reach the accuracy threshold of high-precision phenomenology. With 24 contact terms through order $Q^4$ plus two charge-dependent contacts, and with pion-exchange contributions through N$^3$LO, the fit gives $�chi^2$/datum of 1.10 for np and 1.50 for pp below 290 MeV, against 1.04 and 1.38 for Argonne V18. The same tables show that lower-order chiral potentials are not quantitatively viable: 10.1 (np) and 35.4 (pp) at NNLO, and 36.2 and 80.1 at NLO. Charge dependence is included up to next-to-leading order of the isospin-violation scheme, with the pion-mass difference in one-pion exchange, the Coulomb potential in pp, pion-mass difference in the NLO two-pion exchange, $�pi�gamma$ exchange, and two charge-dependent contacts that allow the three $^1S_0$ scattering lengths to be fitted.
Load-bearing premise
The load-bearing premise is that a $�chi^2$ per datum near 1.1 for np and 1.5 for pp, obtained with 29 fitted parameters at a single cutoff of 0.5 GeV, demonstrates genuine fourth-order accuracy rather than fit flexibility, since the paper reports no cutoff variation and no estimate of the truncation error from omitted higher orders.
Original abstract
We present the first nucleon-nucleon potential at next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order (fourth order) of chiral perturbation theory. Charge-dependence is included up to next-to-leading order of the isospin-violation scheme. The accuracy for the reproduction of the NN data below 290 MeV lab. energy is comparable to the one of phenomenological high-precision potentials. Since NN potentials of order three and less are known to be deficient in quantitative terms, the present work shows that the fourth order is necessary and sufficient for a reliable NN potential derived from chiral effective Lagrangians. The new potential provides a promising starting point for exact few-body calculations and microscopic nuclear structure theory (including chiral many-body forces derived on the same footing).
The compiled record
The paper's own sentences, arranged, kept beside the review and separate from it. Each label is drawn from a closed vocabulary; the number beside it is the probability the classifier gave that label. Numbers in the tables are the authors', checked by code. No sentence in this record was written by a model.
The abstract, sentence by sentence
We present the first nucleon-nucleon potential at next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order (fourth order) of chiral perturbation theory. Charge-dependence is included up to next-to-leading order of the isospin-violation scheme. The accuracy for the reproduction of the NN data below 290 MeV lab. energy is comparable to the one of phenomenological high-precision potentials. Since NN potentials of order three and less are known to be deficient in quantitative terms, the present work shows that the fourth order is necessary and sufficient for a reliable NN potential derived from chiral effective Lagrangians. The new potential provides a promising starting point for exact few-body calculations and microscopic nuclear structure theory (including chiral many-body forces derived on the same footing).
background contribution method result interpretation main claim
| # | sentence | role | the authors' own work | states the main conclusion | strength |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| s0 | We present the first nucleon-nucleon potential at next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order (fourth order) of chiral perturbation theory. | contribution 1.00 | 0.96 | 0.17 | asserted 1.00 |
| s1 | Charge-dependence is included up to next-to-leading order of the isospin-violation scheme. | contribution 0.74 | 0.87 | 0.04 | asserted 1.00 |
| s2 | The accuracy for the reproduction of the NN data below 290 MeV lab. energy is comparable to the one of phenomenological high-precision potentials. | result 0.99 | 0.88 | 0.18 | asserted 1.00 |
| s3 | Since NN potentials of order three and less are known to be deficient in quantitative terms, the present work shows that the fourth order is necessary and sufficient for a reliable NN potential derived from chiral effective Lagrangians. | interpretation 0.93 | 0.49 | 0.78 | asserted 1.00 |
| s4 | The new potential provides a promising starting point for exact few-body calculations and microscopic nuclear structure theory (including chiral many-body forces derived on the same footing). | interpretation 0.57 | 0.47 | 0.09 | hedged possibility 0.91 |
What was examined, and what was not
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- P abstract
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References
How later papers used it
330 later papers cite it
15 later papers by other authors are listed below: 9 used its method or tool, 4 used its data or values and 2 compared their own results with it.
Uses its method or tool 9 of 49 papers with this label
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Used the potential developed by Entem and Machleidt within chiral effective field theory at N3LO.
Charged-current reactions in the supernova neutrino-sphere (2014) · 0.99 · paraphrased: the licence does not allow quoting
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Computed no-core shell-model wave functions with the Entem-Machleidt N3LO chiral interaction evolved by the similarity renormalization group to a resolution of 2.0 fm^-1.
Uncertainties in tellurium-based dark matter searches stemming from nuclear structure uncertainties (2025) · 0.98 · paraphrased: the licence does not allow quoting
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The , , and Hamiltonians are constructed from the 3 NN potential developed by Entem and Machleidt (EM) in Ref. [ref] unitarily transformed to the resolution scales $λ= 1.8, 2.0$, and $2.2 ħ$, respectively, via the similarity renormalization group [ref] and 3N potentials at 2 with a regulator cutoff of $2.0 ħ$ [ref] .
The nuclear charge radius of $^{13}\mathrm{C}$ (2025) · Methods · 0.97
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Adopted a Hamiltonian based on the chiral N3LO NN interaction of this paper and an N2LO 3N force.
Unified description of $^6$Li structure and deuterium-$^4$He dynamics with chiral two- and three-nucleon forces (2014) · 0.85 · paraphrased: the licence does not allow quoting
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Performed calculations using the Entem-Machleidt 2NF, a chiral two-body force based on terms up to fourth order in chiral EFT.
Symmetric nuclear matter with chiral three-nucleon forces in the self-consistent Green's functions approach (2013) · 0.88 · paraphrased: the licence does not allow quoting
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Employed as an ingredient the chiral effective field theory potential with two-nucleon forces of this paper plus three-nucleon forces.
Nuclear structure corrections to the Lamb shift in $\mu^3$He$^+$ and $\mu^3$H (2015) · 0.82 · paraphrased: the licence does not allow quoting
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Used a chiral nucleon-nucleon force derived at N3LO.
Giant and pigmy dipole resonances in 4He, 16,22O, and 40Ca from chiral nucleon-nucleon interactions (2014) · 0.94 · paraphrased: the licence does not allow quoting
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Used the chiral EFT N3LO two-body interaction developed by Entem and Machleidt.
Nuclear multipole responses from chiral effective field theory interaction (2020) · 0.90 · paraphrased: the licence does not allow quoting
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Started from the chiral N3LO NN potential of this paper, evolved through a similarity renormalization group transformation with evolution parameter 2.02 fm^-1.
${}^{7}$Li($d$,$p$)${}^{8}$Li transfer reaction in the NCSM/RGM approach (2017) · 0.92 · paraphrased: the licence does not allow quoting
Uses its data or values 4 of 26 papers with this label
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Used the constants c1 = -0.81 GeV^-1, c3 = -3.2 GeV^-1 and c4 = 5.4 GeV^-1 for Entem-Machleidt.
Correlated density-dependent chiral forces for infinite matter calculations within the Green's function approach (2014) · 1.00 · paraphrased: the licence does not allow quoting
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Fixed its long-range constants to c1 = -0.81, c3 = -3.2 and c4 = 5.4.
Uncertainties with low-resolution nuclear forces (2025) · 1.00 · paraphrased: the licence does not allow quoting
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Took its fit of parameters for the NN interaction, carried out at N3LO with a momentum cutoff of 500, from this paper.
Ab initio benchmarks of neutrinoless double beta decay in light nuclei with a chiral Hamiltonian (2020) · 0.97 · paraphrased: the licence does not allow quoting
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Took its fit of parameters for the two-nucleon interaction, carried out at N3LO with a momentum cutoff of 500 MeV/c, from Entem and Machleidt.
Ab Initio Treatment of Collective Correlations and the Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay of $^{48}$Ca (2019) · 0.95 · paraphrased: the licence does not allow quoting
Compares with it 2 of 19 papers with this label
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We benchmark the results against published cross section results for the traditional interaction [ref] and systematically compare and analyze different cross section observables at a variety of energies using the interactions [ref] and .
Neutron-deuteron scattering cross-sections with chiral $NN$ interactions using wave-packet continuum discretization (2022) · Introduction · 0.98
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However, our value is slightly smaller than theoretical calculations with the NCSM in continuum $2.46(2)$ fm [ref] using the Idaho N$^3$LO interaction [ref] SRG-evolved without adding a 3NF.
Radii of light nuclei from the Jacobi No-Core Shell Model (2025) · Results and discussions · 0.98
How the literature uses it
79 arXiv papers cite this in 129 sentences
Papers whose main result relates to this one's
States the same result 1 paper
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Since NN potentials of order three or less of ChPT are known to be deficient in quantitative terms, the recent advances show that the fourth order of ChPT is necessary and sufficient for a reliable NN potential derived from chiral effective Lagrangians.
The nuclear force problem: Are we seeing the end of the tunnel? · 0.98
Papers citing it · 78 sentences without a confident label
Uses its method or tool 7 papers
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For that, we use the chiral effective field theory ($χ$EFT) approach at N$^3$LO [ref] derived from the principles of quantum chromodynamics (QCD) to represent the nuclear force between two nucleons using chiral perturbation theory.
Solving two and three-body systems with deep neural networks · Study of the deuteron · 0.99
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In the first [ref] , nucleons and pions are retained as explicit degrees of freedom and terms up to next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order (N3LO), in the standard Weinberg counting, are accounted for.
The X17 boson and the $^3$H$(p,e^+ e^-)^4$He and $^3$He$(n,e^+ e^-)^4$He processes: a theoretical analysis · Hamiltonians and wave functions · 0.83
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We employ the formalism described in detail in Refs. [ref] , where the so-called continuous choice is taken for the intermediate states, and the N$^3$LO potential from [ref] is used for the NN interaction.
Constraining the p{\Lambda} interaction from a combined analysis of scattering data and correlation functions · Introduction · 1.00
Uses its data or values 5 papers
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For the NN interaction we consider the next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order potential from the Idaho group with a regulator of $Λ_N = 500$ MeV (Idaho-N3LO(500)) [ref] , and the high-order semilocal momentum-space (SMS) potential regularized with $Λ_N = 450$ MeV (SMS N4LO+(450)) [ref] .
Jacobi no-core shell model for $p$-shell hypernuclei · Results · 0.81
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They start from the NN potential with a cutoff of $500$ from Ref. [ref] , optimized to NN scattering data.
Ab initio calculations of parity-violating electron scattering off $^{48}$Ca and $^{208}$Pb · IMSRG calculations · 0.83
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The initial ($λ= ∞$) NN potential used here is the 500 MeV N$^3$LO interaction from Ref. [ref] .
Applications of the Similarity Renormalization Group to the Nuclear Interaction · Convergence in the Oscillator Basis · 0.91
Compares with it 7 papers
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We compare our findings with the neutron-matter calculations of Ref. [ref] using many-body perturbation theory () and nonlocal interactions from Refs. [ref] for reference.
Direct Astrophysical Tests of Chiral Effective Field Theory at Supranuclear Densities · Introduction · 1.00
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We benchmark the results against published cross section results for the traditional interaction [ref] and systematically compare and analyze different cross section observables at a variety of energies using the interactions [ref] and .
Neutron-deuteron scattering cross-sections with chiral $NN$ interactions using wave-packet continuum discretization · Introduction · 0.98
-
However, our value is slightly smaller than theoretical calculations with the NCSM in continuum $2.46(2)$ fm [ref] using the Idaho N$^3$LO interaction [ref] SRG-evolved without adding a 3NF.
Radii of light nuclei from the Jacobi No-Core Shell Model · Results and discussions · 0.98
Cites it as support 1 paper
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Recent progress in the accurate description of the two- [ref] and more-nucleon systems [ref] within the chiral EFT, see also [ref] and references therein, gives a strong motivation to apply this framework to the abovementioned processes.
Two-pion exchange electromagnetic current in chiral effective field theory using the method of unitary transformation · Introduction · 0.96
Cites it as background 27 papers
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Such potentials [ref] , now derived up to the fifth chiral order [ref] , have furnished a wide range of structure and reaction predictions across the nuclear chart [ref] , but at the same time they grapple with the renormalization challenge inherent to chiral nuclear forces [ref] .
Perturbative computations of neutron-proton scattering observables using renormalization-group invariant $\chi$EFT up to N$^3$LO · Introduction · 0.87
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The potential is then inserted into the Schrödinger or Lippmann-Schwinger equation in order to obtain theoretical predictions [ref] .
Perturbative renormalizability of chiral two pion exchange in nucleon-nucleon scattering · Introduction · 0.91
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Precise two-nucleon potentials have been developed at next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order (N$^3$LO) in the chiral expansion, see Refs. [ref] . 3NFs first appear at N$^2$LO in the Weinberg counting scheme [ref] and have been analyzed and scrutinized in [ref] .
Subleading contributions to the chiral three-nucleon force I: long-range terms · Introduction · 0.89
Discussion
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