Relativistic interpretation of the nature of the nuclear tensor force

The spin-dependent nature of the nuclear tensor force is studied in detail within the relativistic HartreeFock approach. The relativistic formalism for the tensor force is supplemented with an additional Lorentz-invariant tensor formalism in the a-scalar channel, so as to take into account almost fully the nature of the tensor force brought about by the Fock diagrams in realistic nuclei. Specifically, the tensor sum rules are tested for the spin and pseudospin partners with and without nodes, to further understand the nature of the tensor force within the relativistic model. It is shown that the interference between the two components of nucleon spinors causes distinct violations of the tensor sum rules in realistic nuclei, mainly due to the opposite signs on the κ quantities of the upper and lower components, as well as the nodal difference. However, the sum rules can be precisely reproduced if the same radial wave functions are taken for the spin/pseudo-spin partners in addition to neglecting the lower/upper components,revealing clearly the nature of the tensor force.