Boost-invariant description of nuclear matter

Abstract

We present a self-consistent mean-field description of nuclear matter making use of light front dynamics and focus our attention on a model with nucleons coupled to scalar mesons. We derive the mean-field Dirac equation for nucleon separation energies. The nucleon-meson seagull interactions are included in the calculations. In the mean-field analysis, the nucleon momentum sum rule, which plays an important role in the description of deep-inelastic scattering from heavy nuclei, results from the thermodynamical consistency condition that there is no pressure at zero temperature. We obtain the same energy density of nuclear matter at rest as one derives in the instant form of dynamics. Our light front mean-field formalism describes nuclear matter in uniform motion at any possible velocity.