Trinuclear Δ components and the triton binding energy

Abstract

The influence of trinuclear one-\ensuremath{\Delta} and \ensuremath{\Delta}\ensuremath{\Delta} components on the triton binding energy is studied nonperturbatively using the Hannover and Argonne force models. This is the first such study of \ensuremath{\Delta}\ensuremath{\Delta} effects, and these are found to be appreciable. In the Hannover model, repulsive \ensuremath{\Delta} dispersive effects and attractive \ensuremath{\Delta} three-body-force effects cancel almost exactly, yielding little net \ensuremath{\Delta} effect. A similar result obtains for the Argonne model, yielding a net \ensuremath{\Delta} repulsive effect of only \ensuremath{\sim}380 keV. Implications for current approaches which make simplifying assumptions about \ensuremath{\Delta} effects are indicated.