= Nuclear force
{wiki}
The residual <strong interaction> between <nucleons>. Its long-distance part involves <pion> exchange and depends on <spin> and <isospin>. It is distinct from directly exchanging gluons between color-singlet nucleons.
Why do <protons> and <neutrons> bind into an <atomic nucleus>, even though <protons> repel electrically? An attractive <nuclear force> can lower the total <energy> below that of separated <nucleons>, producing <nuclear binding energy>. The <deuteron>, containing one <proton> and one <neutron>, is the simplest such <bound state>.
In <Quantum chromodynamics>, <nucleons> are composite <colour singlets> built from <quarks> and <gluons>. Their residual <nuclear force> has a longest-range strong contribution from <one-pion exchange>, with additional interactions at shorter distances.<Modern Theory of Nuclear Forces by Evgeny Epelbaum and others>[Modern Theory of Nuclear Forces, inspected preprint sections I and I.B]{ref}
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