Pion tensor force and nuclear binding energy in the relativistic Hartree-Fock formalism

The binding energies of several isotopic families are studied within the relativistic Hartree-Fock approximation with the pseudovector coupling for the πN vertex, to find out a suitable strength for the effective pion tensor force (EPTF). An approximation for determining separately the contributions of the central and tensor forces generated by pion is considered. The results for heavy nuclei indicate that a realistic strength for the EPTF is smaller than a half of that appearing in the OPEP. This conclusion also applies to the results for the single-particle energies. Besides, it has been found that there is a genuine relativistic contribution of the EPTF in nuclear matter which is small but significant.