The unitary pole approximation for the binding energy of 4He

Abstract

The sensitivity of the binding energy E α of 4He to the high-energy phase shift of the NN interaction, with a fixed deuteron wave function, is shown to be of the order of 6 MeV. This variation is compared to the one previously obtained for E α , if the short-range behaviour of the deuteron wave function is varied. In both cases a comparable broadening of the Tjon line results. A consequence of this result is that the accuracy of the unitary pole approximation in 4He is considerably less than was previously found for 3H.