Quantum hadrodynamics

Abstract

In future experiments, nuclear systems will be examined under extreme conditions of density and temperature, and their response will be probed at momentum and energy transfers larger than the nucleon mass. It is therefore essential to develop reliable nuclear models that go beyond the traditional nonrelativistic many-body framework, which is based on the Schrodinger equation. General properties of physics, such as quantum mechanics, Lorentz covariance and microscopic causality, motivate the use of quantum field theories to describe the interacting, relativistic, nuclear many-body system. The arguments for renormalizable models based on hadronic degrees of freedom (quantum hadrodynamics) are presented, and the assumptions underlying this framework are discussed. The Walecka model, which contains neutrons, protons, and neutral scalar and vector mesons, is considered first as a simple example. The development is based on the relativistic mean-field and Hartree approximations, and their application to infinite matter and atomic nuclei. Some successes of this model are discussed, such as the nuclear equation of state, the derivation of the shell model, the prediction of nuclear properties throughout the periodic table, and the inclusion of zero-point vacuum corrections. The important concepts of Lorentz covariance and self-consistency are emphasized, and the new dynamical features that arise in a relativistic many-body framework are highlighted. The computation of isoscalar magnetic moments is presented as an illustrative example. Calculations beyond the relativistic mean-field and Hartree approximations (for example, Dirac-Hartree-Fock and Dirac-Brueckner) are considered next, as well as recent efforts to incorporate the full role of the quantum vacuum in a consistent fashion. An extended model containing isovector pi and rho mesons is then developed; the dynamics is based on the chirally invariant linear sigma model. The difficulties in constructing realistic chiral descriptions of nuclear matter and nuclei are analysed, and the connection between the sigma model and the Walecka model is established. Finally, the relationship between quantum hadrodynamics and quantum chromodynamics is briefly addressed.