Abstract
Two-nucleon momentum distributions are calculated for the ground states of nuclei with mass number , using variational Monte Carlo wave functions derived from a realistic Hamiltonian with two- and three-nucleon potentials. The momentum distribution of pairs is found to be much larger than that of pairs for values of the relative momentum in the range and vanishing total momentum. This order of magnitude difference is seen in all nuclei considered and has a universal character originating from the tensor components present in any realistic nucleon-nucleon potential. The correlations induced by the tensor force strongly influence the structure of pairs, which are predominantly in deuteronlike states, while they are ineffective for pairs, which are mostly in states. These features should be easily observable in two-nucleon knockout processes, such as and .
- Received 10 November 2006
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.98.132501
©2007 American Physical Society