Analysis of the Λ-N Interaction

We examine whether the recent low-energy Λ-N scattering data of Alexander et al. are compatible with the binding energies of H3Λ and He5Λ, if only central Λ-N forces are assumed. We set up Λ-N and N-N potentials, in the spirit of the Moszkowski-Scott separation method, to fit the low-energy scattering parameters. It is found that although these forces are compatible with the H3Λ binding, He5Λ is grossly overbound. This is interpreted as an indication for the existence of an appreciable tensor component in the triplet Λ-N potential.