J ul 2 00 3 Is the nuclear force short range ?

Possible strong Van der Waals force is searched in the nuclear interaction, whose existence is expected when the fundamental interaction between quarks is strong or superstrong Coulombic type. The relation between the type of the extra singularity at t = 0 of the scattering amplitude and the power of the asymptotic behavior of the long range potential is derived. The square root cusp in the once subtracted S-wave amplitude, whose existence is expected when the Van der Waals force of the London type is acting, is observed when we analyze the high precision phase shift data of the low energy proton-proton scattering. ∗Associate member of IQS for research. e-mail address: t-sawada@fureai.or.jp