Three-body spin-orbit forces from chiral two-pion exchange

Using chiral perturbation theory, we calculate the density-dependent spin-orbit coupling generated by the two-pion exchange three-nucleon interaction involving virtual $\Delta$-isobar excitation. From the corresponding three-loop Hartree and Fock diagrams we obtain an isoscalar spin-orbit strength $F_{\rm so}(k_f)$ which amounts at nuclear matter saturation density to about half of the empirical value of $90$MeVfm$^5$. The associated isovector spin-orbit strength $G_{\rm so}(k_f)$ comes out about a factor of 20 smaller. Interestingly, this three-body spin-orbit coupling is not a relativistic effect but independent of the nucleon mass $M$. Furthermore, we calculate the three-body spin-orbit coupling generated by two-pion exchange on the basis of the most general chiral $\pi\pi NN$-contact interaction. We find similar (numerical) results for the isoscalar and isovector spin-orbit strengths $F_{\rm so}(k_f)$ and $G_{\rm so}(k_f)$ with a strong dominance of the p-wave part of the $\pi\pi NN$-contact interaction and the Hartree contribution.Comment: 8 pages, 4figure, published in : Physical Review C68, 054001 (2003

Chiral 2π2\pi-exchange NN-potentials: Two-loop contributions

We calculate in heavy baryon chiral perturbation theory the local NN-potentials generated by the two-pion exchange diagrams at two-loop order. We give explicit expressions for the mass-spectra (or imaginary parts) of the corresponding isoscalar and isovector central, spin-spin and tensor NN-amplitudes. We find from two-loop two-pion exchange a sizeable isoscalar central repulsion which amounts to $62.3$MeV at $r=1.0$fm. There is a similarly strong isovector central attraction which however originates mainly from the third order low energy constants $\bar d_j$ entering the chiral $\pi N$-scattering amplitude. We also evaluate the one-loop $2\pi$-exchange diagram with two second order chiral $\pi \pi NN$-vertices proportional to the low energy constants $c_{1,2,3,4}$ as well as the first relativistic 1/M-correction to the $2\pi$-exchange diagrams with one such vertex. The diagrammatic results presented here are relevant components of the chiral NN-potential at next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure

Chiral 3π\pi-exchange NN-potentials: Results for dominant next-to-leading order contributions

We calculate in (two-loop) chiral perturbation theory the local NN-potentials generated by the three-pion exchange diagrams with one insertion from the second order chiral effective pion-nucleon Lagrangian proportional to the low-energy constants $c_{1,2,3,4}$. The resulting isoscalar central potential vanishes identically. In most cases these $3\pi$-exchange potentials are larger than the ones generated by the diagrams involving only leading order vertices due to the large values of $c_{3,4}$ (which mainly represent virtual $\Delta$-excitation). A similar feature has been observed for the chiral $2\pi$-exchange. We also give suitable (double-integral) representations for the spin-spin and tensor potentials generated by the leading-order diagrams proportional to $g_A^6$ involving four nucleon propagators. In these cases the Cutkosky rule cannot be used to calculate the spectral-functions in the infinite nucleon mass limit since the corresponding mass-spectra start with a non-vanishing value at the $3\pi$-threshold. Altogether, one finds that chiral $3\pi$-exchange leads to small corrections in the region $r\geq 1.4$ fm where $1\pi$- and chiral $2\pi$-exchange alone provide a very good strong NN-force as shown in a recent analysis of the low-energy pp-scattering data-base.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, to be published in The Physical Review

Chiral π\pi-exchange NN-potentials: Results for diagrams proportional to g_A^4 and g_A^6

We calculate in (two-loop) chiral perturbation theory the local NN-potentials generated by the three-pion exchange diagrams proportional to g_A^4 and g_A^6. Surprisingly, we find that the total isoscalar central $3\pi$-exchange potential vanishes identically. The individually largest $3\pi$-exchange potentials are of isoscalar spin-spin, isovector central and isoscalar tensor type. For these potentials simple analytical expressions can be given. The strength of these dominant $3\pi$-exchange potentials at r=1.0 fm is 4.6 MeV, 2.9 MeV and 1.4 MeV, respectively. Furthermore, we observe that the spin-spin and tensor potentials due to the diagrams proportional to g_A^6 do not exist in the infinite nucleon mass limit.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

From Point Defects in Graphene to Two-Dimensional Amorphous Carbon

While crystalline two-dimensional materials have become an experimental reality during the past few years, an amorphous 2-D material has not been reported before. Here, using electron irradiation we create an sp2-hybridized one-atom-thick flat carbon membrane with a random arrangement of polygons, including four-membered carbon rings. We show how the transformation occurs step-by-step by nucleation and growth of low-energy multi-vacancy structures constructed of rotated hexagons and other polygons. Our observations, along with first-principles calculations, provide new insights to the bonding behavior of carbon and dynamics of defects in graphene. The created domains possess a band gap, which may open new possibilities for engineering graphene-based electronic devices.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures including supplementary informatio