Relativistic mean-field interaction with density-dependent meson-nucleon vertices based on microscopical calculations

Although ab initio calculations of relativistic Brueckner theory lead to large scalar isovector fields in nuclear matter, at present, successful versions of covariant density functional theory neglect the interactions in this channel. A new high-precision density functional DD-ME delta is presented which includes four mesons, sigma, omega, delta, and rho, with density-dependent meson-nucleon couplings. It is based to a large extent on microscopic ab initio calculations in nuclear matter. Only four of its parameters are determined by adjusting to binding energies and charge radii of finite nuclei. The other parameters, in particular the density dependence of the meson-nucleon vertices, are adjusted to nonrelativistic and relativistic Brueckner calculations of symmetric and asymmetric nuclear matter. The isovector effective mass m*(p) - m*(n) derived from relativistic Brueckner theory is used to determine the coupling strength of the delta meson and its density dependence.