Charmonium-nucleon potential from lattice QCD

We present results for the charmonium-nucleon potential Vc (c) over bar -N(r) from quenched lattice QCD, which is calculated from the equal-time Bethe-Salpeter amplitude through the effective Schrodinger equation. Detailed information of the low-energy interaction between the nucleon and charmonia (eta(c) and J/psi) is indispensable for exploring the formation of charmonium bound to nuclei. Our simulations are performed at a lattice cutoff of 1/a approximate to 2.1 GeV in a spatial volume of (3 fm)(3) with the nonperturbatively O(a) improved Wilson action for the light quarks and a relativistic heavy quark action for the charm quark. We have found that the potential Vc (c) over bar -N(r) for either the eta(c) or J/psi states is weakly attractive at short distances and exponentially screened at large distances. The spin averaged J/psi-N potential is slightly more attractive than that of the eta(c)-N case.