Meson Masses in Nuclear Matter

Abstract

Mass shifts $Δm$ of particles in nuclear matter relative to their vacuum values are considered. A general formula relating $Δm(E)$ ($E$ is the particle energy) to the real part of the forward particle-nucleon scattering amplitude ${\rm Re} f(E)$ is presented and its applicability domain is formulated. The $ρ$-meson mass shift in nuclear matter is calculated at $2\la E_ρ\la 7$ GeV for transversally and longitudinally polarized $ρ$-mesons with the results: $Δm_ρ^T \sim 50$ MeV and $Δm_ρ^L \sim 10$ MeV at normal nuclear density.