By Jie Meng (ed.)
World Scientific
This book, the 10th volume of the International Review of Nuclear Physics series, provides an overview of the current status of relativistic density functional theories and their applications. Written by leading scientists in the field, it is intended both for students and for researchers interested in many-body theory or nuclear physics.
Density functional theory was introduced in 1970s and has since developed in an attempt to find a unified and self-consistent description of the single-particle motion in a nucleus and of the collective motions of the nucleus based on strong interaction theory. Largely applied for heavy and super-heavy nuclei, this description allows mapping the complex quantum-mechanical many-body problem of the structure of these nuclei onto an adequate one-body problem, which is relatively easy to solve.
After explaining the theoretical basics of relativistic (or covariant) density functional theory, the authors discuss different models and the application of the theory to various cases, including the structure of neutron stars. In the last chapter, three variants of the relativistic model and the non-relativistic density model are compared. Possible directions for future developments of energy density functional theory are also outlined.
Readers interested in further details and specific research work can rely on the very rich bibliography that accompanies each chapter.
