Nuclear structure models built from phenomenological mean fields, the effective nucleon-nucleon interactions (or Lagrangians), and the realistic bare nucleon-nucleon interactions are reviewed. The success of covariant density functional theory (CDFT) to describe nuclear properties and its influence on Brueckner theory within the relativistic framework are focused upon. The challenges and ambiguities of predictions for unstable nuclei without data or for high-density nuclear matter, arising from relativistic density functionals, are discussed. The basic ideas in building an ab initio relativistic density functional for nuclear structure from ab initio calculations with realistic nucleon-nucleon interactions for both nuclear matter and finite nuclei are presented. The current status of fully self-consistent relativistic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock (RBHF) calculations for finite nuclei or neutron drops (ideal systems composed of a finite number of neutrons and confined within an external field) is reviewed. The guidance and perspectives towards an ab initio covariant density functional theory for nuclear structure derived from the RBHF results are provided.
Summary and Perspectives 521. Introduction
Brief introduction on nuclear theoryThe discoveries of radioactivity by Becquerel [1] and the Curies [2, 3] and the existence of a compact nucleus at the center of an atom by Rutherford et al. [4] opened the door of nuclear physics. During the hundred years of development in nuclear physics, there emerged several significant milestones, including the discovery of the neutron by Chadwick [5] which verified the composition of the nucleus as protons and neutrons, the meson-exchange theory for the strong interaction between nucleons by Yukawa [6], the independent-particle shell model of the nucleus by Goeppert-Mayer [7], Haxel, Jensen, and Suess [8], and the collective Hamiltonian for nuclear rotation and vibration by Rainwater [9], Bohr and Mottelson [10,11], etc.With the understanding of the composition of a nucleus as protons and neutrons [5] and the meson-exchange theory for the strong interaction between the nucleons [6], nuclear physicists hoped to describe the nucleus, a quantum many-body system, from the underlying nucleon-nucleon interaction. Euler, a student of Heisenberg, assumed the nuclear force as a two-body (2N) interaction with a Gaussian shape and calculated the infinite nuclear system, i.e., homogeneous nuclear matter, using second-order perturbation theory [12]. However, the strong repulsive core of the realistic nuclear force [13] prevents the application of perturbation theory.On the other hand, the nuclear structure model with a phenomenological mean field achieved great success. Goeppert-Mayer [7], Haxel, Jensen, and Suess [8] introduced a strong spin-orbit potential and proposed the nuclear independentparticle shell model that successfully explained the conventional magic numbers in nuclei. Rainwater [9], Bohr and Mottelson [10, 11] explored the nuclear deformation and proposed the nuclear collective mode...