Chiral 2π exchange at fourth order and peripheral NN scattering -: art. no. 014002

We calculate the impact of the complete set of two-pion exchange contributions at chiral fourth order (also known as next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order) on peripheral partial waves of nucleon-nucleon scattering. Our calculations are based upon the analytical studies by Kaiser. It turns out that the contribution of fourth order is substantially smaller than the one of third order, indicating convergence of the chiral expansion. We compare the prediction from chiral pion exchange with the corresponding one from conventional meson theory as represented by the Bonn full model and find, in general, good agreement. Our calculations provide a sound basis for investigating the issue whether the low-energy constants determined from piN lead to reasonable predictions for NN.