Nucelar potentials in quantum field theory

Abstract

The search for a satisfactory nuclear potential in Quantum Field Theory (hereafter referred to as Q.F.T.) has been long and the attempts have been numerous. The difficulty of the problem is twofold: firstly, because a potential is not Lorentz covariant, we have to find a way to convert the relativistic formalism of Q.F.T. into its non- relativistic equivalent; secondly, because no satisfactory method of calculating quantities appearing in Q.F.T. has yet evolved, we have to find ways to approximately calculate the potential that emerges out of the dissolution of the first difficulty. Different authors took different attitudes to either of these problems, and the result was a proliferation of proposals with varying degrees of success. Diverse though these proposals are, they fall into four main classes.