Pseudoscalar mesons in nuclei and partial restoration of chiral symmetry

Abstract

Recent theoretical developments of hadrons in nuclei are briefly reviewed in the aspect of chiral symmetry in nuclei. We show a general sum rule connecting in-medium hadronic quantities and quark condensate, emphasizing that both pionic mode and particle-hole excitations in the nuclear medium are responsible for reduction of the chiral condensate in nuclear matter. We also discuss that few-body nuclear systems with kaons are good objects to investigate basic features of kaon-nucleus interactions, showing recent understandings of the structure of Lambda(1405) and possible bound states of KbarNN and KKbarN. We also mention eta mesonic nuclei in connection with chiral symmetry of baryons.