We explore the interplay between renormalization, charge independence and charge symmetry breaking (CIB and CSB) in $S$-wave nucleon-nucleon scattering. The renormalizability requirement generates universality functions, that is, correlations between the low-energy scattering observables in the neutron-neutron, neutron-proton, and proton-proton systems. The universality functions only depend on the (known) form of the nucleon-nucleon potential at long distances and, in particular, they do not require any assumptions about short-range CIB and CSB effects. In addition, the inclusion of Coulomb effects is trivial for the particular case of proton-proton scattering, allowing us to relate strong and Coulomb scattering observables. Within this approach, and using a one-boson-exchange potential, the previous correlations are shown to be phenomenologically satisfied without the need to introduce further parameters.

• Received 2 June 2011

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.85.024002