Effective Field Theory at Moderate Nuclear Density

Abstract

Effective field theory of the in-medium nucleon-nucleon interaction is considered. The effective range parameters are found to be of a natural scale. The low density limit is discussed both in perturbative and nonperturbative situations. In the nonperturbative case the attractive character of the nucleon-nucleon interactions in the $^{1}S_0$ channel leads to the nuclear superfluidity which is analyzed in the framework of the renormalization group. The numerical values of the corresponding energy gap are in agreement with results obtained by more more traditional many-body techniques. The S-wave part of potential energy per particle is calculated for different values of nuclear density. The role of pion and many-body effects is discussed. Problems and challenges in constructing the chiral theory of nuclear matter are outlined.