pi rho correlations in the NN potential.

We evaluate the contribution to the nucleon-nucleon interaction due to correlated πρ exchange in the π, ω, and A1/H1 channels by means of dispersion-theoretic methods based on a realistic meson-exchange model for the interaction between π and ρ mesons. This process has substantial effects: In the pionic channel it counterbalances the suppression generated by a soft πNN form factor of monopole type with a cutoff mass of about 1 GeV; in the ω channel it provides a strong repulsive contribution, leaving little room for explicit quark-gluon effects. © 1996 The American Physical Society.