Error analysis of nuclear forces and effective interactions

The nucleon–nucleon (NN) interaction is the starting point for ab initio nuclear structure and nuclear reactions calculations. These are effectively carried out via effective interactions fitting scattering data up to a maximal center of mass momentum. However, NN interactions are subjected to statistical and systematic uncertainties, which are expected to propagate and have some impact on the predictive power and accuracy of theoretical calculations, regardless on the numerical accuracy of the method used to solve the many body problem. We stress the necessary conditions required for a correct and self-consistent statistical interpretation of the discrepancies between theory and experiment which enable a subsequent statistical error propagation and correlation analysis. We comprehensively discuss a stringent and recently proposed tail-sensitive normality test and provide a simple recipe to implement it. As an application, we analyze the deduced uncertainties and correlations of effective interactions in terms of Moshinsky–Skyrme parameters and effective field theory counterterms as derived from the bare NN potential containing one-pion-exchange and chiral two-pion-exchange interactions inferred from scattering data.