Relativistic Self-Consistent Meson Field Theory of Spherical Nuclei

A relativistic self-consistent theory is used in conjunction with meson field potentials having the form of the generalized one-boson-exchange potentials (GOBEP) to construct a relativistic self-consistent meson field theory of nuclear structure. A simple GOBEP model with qualitative features of successful N-N models, e.g., approximate cancellation of static terms arising from generalized (or regularized) scalar- and vector-meson fields, is used to calculate ground-state properties of the doubly-magic spherical nuclei ¹⁶O, ⁴⁰Ca, ⁹⁰Zr, and ²⁰⁸Pb, and one superheavy nucleus ²⁹⁸114. Good agreement is obtained between theoretical and experimental total binding energies and radial charge distributions. The isotopic shift in charge distributions between the isotopes ⁴⁰Ca and ⁴⁸Ca and the single-particle eigenvalues agree quite well with the experimental numbers. The absence of explicit correlation corrections, the relationship of this model to earlier meson-theoretic descriptions, and physical interpretation in terms of nucleon form factors and relativistic interactions are discussed.