Nucleon-nucleon (NN) potential is studied by lattice QCD simulations in the quenched approximation, using the plaquette gauge action and the Wilson quark action on a 32^4 (simeq (4.4 fm)^4) lattice. A NN potential V_{NN}(r) is defined from the equal-time Bethe-Salpeter amplitude with a local interpolating operator for the nucleon. By studying the NN interaction in the ^1S_0 and ^3S_1 channels, we show that the central part of V_{NN}(r) has a strong repulsive core of a few hundred MeV at short distances (r alt 0.5 fm) surrounded by an attractive well at medium and long distances. These features are consistent with the known phenomenological features of the nuclear force.
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