  The nuclear force acting between protons and neutrons is studied in the Monte
Carlo simulations of the fundamental theory of the strong interaction, the
quantum chromodynamics defined on the hypercubic space-time lattice. After a
brief summary of the empirical nucleon-nucleon (NN) potentials which can fit
the NN scattering experiments in high precision, we outline the basic
formulation to derive the potential between the extended objects such as the
nucleons composed of quarks. The equal-time Bethe-Salpeter amplitude is a key
ingredient for defining the NN potential on the lattice. We show the results of
the numerical simulations on a $32^4$ lattice with the lattice spacing $a
\simeq 0.137 $fm (lattice volume (4.4 fm)$^4$) in the quenched approximation.
The calculation was carried out using the massively parallel computer Blue
Gene/L at KEK. We found that the calculated NN potential at low energy has
basic features expected from the empirical NN potentials; attraction at long
and medium distances and the repulsive core at short distance. Various future
directions along this line of research are also summarized.
