Self weakening of the tensor interaction in a nucleus

We examine several ``landmarks'' for the effects of the tensor interaction on the properties of light nuclei. These were usually discussed in the context of small-space shell-model calculations. We show, using $G$ matrices derived from a realistic nucleon-nucleon potential, that when the model space is small (e.g., $0\hbar\omega$), these effects are overestimated, indicating that the tensor interaction is too strong. However, when larger spaces are used, there is a diminishing of these effects, which, in general, leads to better agreement with experiment.