Self-consistent calculation of the optical potential and ground-state properties of nuclear matter

On the basis of the Green-function formalism, we performed a self-consistent calculation of the self-energy ∑(k, ω) of a particle interacting with the infinite nuclear medium. The function ∑(k, ω) was mapped out in the energy-momentum plane, and the single-particle energy ω(k), momentum distribution ?(k) and the “on-shell” part of the self-energy, ∑(k, ω(k)), were defined, from which all physical properties followed. In particular we investigated the ground-state properties of nuclear matter in two Λ-approximations of the T-matrix. In one, the intermediate two-particle propagator, Λ₀₀, represented free-particle propagation; in the other, called Λ₁₁, intermediate states included both interacting particles and holes. Pauli principle effects were included in both approximations. The second approximation was expected to be conserving because it included a large part of the rearrangement effects which, we found, contributed ～6 MeV per particle to the average energy and ～28 MeV to the singleparticle energy at zero momentum. The Hugenholtz-van Hove theorem was nearly satisfied, with only 1 MeV separating the chemical potential from the average energy. We also studied, in the Λ₀₀-approximation, the optical potential for the scattering of a particle by a large nucleus; it was directly related to the “on-shell” part of the self-energy. It was found that, below 100 MeV, the real part varied as (?90 + 0.584E) MeV], and the imaginary part as (2.4 + 0.009 E) MeV].