Relativistic Effects in Nuclear Forces

An attempt is made to reformulate in a relativistically invariant way a phenomenological theory proposed by Johnson and Teller. Such a generalized theory reproduces the earlier results, i.e., saturation of nuclear binding and approximately correct neutron-to-proton ratios. It also avoids the collapse of the nucleus occurring in the nonrelativistic theory for high kinetic energies. The theory predicts as a secondary result an extremely strong spin-orbit coupling which is of the order of magnitude of the phenomenological coupling introduced in the shell model. Furthermore, the theory predicts a strong attraction between nucleons and antinucleons. This could lead to a ¹S bound state as the ground state of the nucleon---antinucleon system having the properties of a pseudoscalar meson. The strong attraction between antinucleons and nuclear matter also suggests a high value for the collision cross section of antiprotons with nuclei, an effect which has recently been observed.