Tensor forces and the ground-state structure of nuclei

Two-nucleon momentum distributions are calculated for the ground states of nuclei with mass number A <= 8, using variational Monte Carlo wave functions derived from a realistic Hamiltonian with two- and three-nucleon potentials. The momentum distribution of np pairs is found to be much larger than that of pp pairs for values of the relative momentum in the range (300-600) MeV/c 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 np pairs, which are predominantly in deuteronlike states, while they are ineffective for pp pairs, which are mostly in S-1(0) states. These features should be easily observable in two-nucleon knockout processes, such as A(e,e(')np) and A(e,e(')pp).