The Two-Pion Exchange NN-Potential in Nuclear Matter and Nuclear Stability

A meson exchange model of the $\pi\pi$ interaction which fits free $\pi\pi$ scattering data is used to calculate the interactions of pions in nuclear matter as a function of nuclear density. Polarization of the nuclear medium by the pions results in a marked increase in the s-wave $\pi\pi$ attraction at low energy. The influence of this effect on the nucleon-nucleon interaction is a corresponding increase with density of the $NN$ central potential due to the exchange of two correlated pions, resulting in an $NN$ interaction which fails to saturate. A possible mechanism for restoring the theoretical stability of nuclear matter is explored and found to be effective

Chirally Constraining the ππ\pi \pi Interaction in Nuclear Matter

A general prescription for the construction of $\pi \pi$ interaction potentials which preserve scattering length constraints from chiral symmetry when iterated in scattering equations is derived. The prescription involves only minor modifications of typical meson-exchange models, so that coupling constants and cut-off masses in the models are not greatly affected. Calculations of $s$-wave $\pi \pi$ scattering amplitudes in nuclear matter for two models are compared with those for similar models which violate the chiral constraint. While the prescription tends to suppress the accumulation of the near sub-threshold strength of the $\pi \pi$ interaction, an earlier conjecture that amplitudes which satisfy chiral constraints will not exhibit an instability towards $\pi \pi~s-$wave pair condensation appears to be incorrect. At the same time, however, conventional $\pi \pi$ interaction models which fit scattering data well can readily be adjusted to avoid the instability in nuclear matter without recourse to exotic mechanisms.Comment: 20 pages RevTeX and 5 figures (uuencoded .ps-files

What does `rho-exchange' in piN scattering mean?

We present an alternative method for calculating amplitudes for correlated pi pi exchange in the ``sigma'' and rho channel in piN scattering. Starting from a fixed mass meson exchange potential, we introduce the width of the exchanged particles by integrating over a mass spectral function. The spectral functions are constructed from the pseudoempirical N\bar{N} -> pi pi data. Using this approach we develop a prescription for resolving ambiguities of the correlated pi pi exchange in the rho channel that occur when different dispersion theoretical formulations of rho exchange are used to construct piN potentials.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures, uses revtex and epsfi

Effective Field Theory for Bulk Properties of Nuclei

Recent progress in Lorentz-covariant quantum field theories of the nuclear many-body problem ({\em quantum hadrodynamics}, or QHD) is discussed. The importance of modern perspectives in effective field theory and density functional theory for understanding the successes of QHD is emphasized. The inclusion of hadronic electromagnetic structure and of nonanalytic terms in the energy functional is also considered.Comment: 11 pages, 0 figures, REVTeX 3.0; Invited talk at the 11th Conference on Recent Progress in Many-Body Theories (MB 11), Manchester, UK, July 9--13, 200

Nuclear Saturation with in-Medium Meson Exchange Interactions

We show that the assumption of dropping meson masses together with conventional many-body effects, implemented in the relativistic Dirac-Brueckner formalism, explains nuclear saturation. We use a microscopic model for correlated $2\pi$ exchange and include the standard many-body effects on the in-medium pion propagation, which initially increase the attractive nucleon-nucleon ($NN$) potential with density. For the vector meson exchanges in both the $\pi\pi$ and $NN$ sector, we assume Brown-Rho scaling which---in concert with `chiral' $\pi\pi$ contact interactions---reduces the attraction at higher densities.Comment: 5 pages REVTeX, 2 eps-figures included, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Pion-nucleon scattering in a meson-exchange model

The pi-N interaction is studied within a meson-exchange model and in a coupled-channels approach which includes the channels pi-N, eta-N, as well as three effective pi-pi-N channels namely rho-N, pi-Delta, and sigma-N. Starting out from an earlier model of the Julich group systematic improvements in the dynamics and in some technical aspects are introduced. With the new model an excellent quantitative reproduction of the pi-N phase shifts and inelasticity parameters in the energy region up to 1.9 GeV and for total angular momenta J leq 3/2 is achieved. Simultaneously, good agreement with data for the total and differential pi-N -> eta-N transition cross sections is obtained. The connection of the pi_N dynamics in the S_{11} partial wave with the reaction pi-N -> eta-N is discussed.Comment: 32 pages, 9 figure

Two-pion exchange potential and the πN\pi N amplitude

We discuss the two-pion exchange potential which emerges from a box diagram with one nucleon (the spectator) restricted to its mass shell, and the other nucleon line replaced by a subtracted, covariant $\pi N$ scattering amplitude which includes $\Delta$, Roper, and $D_{13}$ isobars, as well as contact terms and off-shell (non-pole) dressed nucleon terms. The $\pi N$ amplitude satisfies chiral symmetry constraints and fits $\pi N$ data below $\sim$ 700 MeV pion energy. We find that this TPE potential can be well approximated by the exchange of an effective sigma and delta meson, with parameters close to the ones used in one-boson-exchange models that fit $NN$ data below the pion production threshold.Comment: 9 pages (RevTex) and 7 postscript figures, in one uuencoded gzipped tar fil

Friedel Oscillations in Relativistic Nuclear Matter

We calculate the low-momentum N-N effective potential obtained in the OBE approximation, inside a nuclear plasma at finite temperature, as described by the relativistic $\sigma$-$\omega$ model. We analyze the screening effects on the attractive part of the potential in the intermediate range as density or temperature increase. In the long range the potential shows Friedel-like oscillations instead of the usual exponential damping. These oscillations arise from the sharp edge of the Fermi surface and should be encountered in any realistic model of nuclear matter.Comment: 11 pages in preprint format, typeset using REVTEX, 3 included figures in tar, compressed, uuencoded forma

Two-Loop Calculations with Vertex Corrections in the Walecka Model

Two-loop corrections with scalar and vector form factors are calculated for nuclear matter in the Walecka model. The on-shell form factors are derived from vertex corrections within the framework of the model and are highly damped at large spacelike momenta. The two-loop corrections are evaluated first by using the one-loop parameters and mean fields and then by refitting the total energy/baryon to empirical nuclear matter saturation properties. The modified two-loop corrections are significantly smaller than those computed with bare vertices. Contributions from the anomalous isoscalar form factor of the nucleon are included for the first time. The effects of the implicit density dependence of the form factors, which arise from the shift in the baryon mass, are also considered. Finally, necessary extensions of these calculations are discussed.Comment: 29 pages in REVTeX, 18 figures, preprint IU/NTC 94-02 //OSU--94-11