In Search of a Pristine Signal for (Scale-)Chiral Symmetry in Nuclei

TL;DR

This paper explores the search for clear signals of (scale-)chiral symmetry in nuclear interactions, emphasizing the roles of pions, vector mesons, and hidden symmetries, culminating in a unified perspective on nuclear forces.

Contribution

It combines Gerry Brown's insights with recent developments on hidden symmetries, proposing a unified framework for understanding nuclear forces through scale-invariant hidden local symmetry.

Findings

Axial-charge transitions as unambiguous signals

Landau-Migdal fixed point interaction G_0' plays a central role

Brown-Rho scaling and tensor forces are interconnected

Abstract

I describe the long-standing search for a "smoking-gun" signal for the manifestation of (scale-)chiral symmetry in nuclear interactions. It is prompted by Gerry Brown's last unpublished note, reproduced verbatim below, on the preeminent role of pions and vector ($\rho$,$\omega$) mesons in providing a simple and elegant description of strongly correlated nuclear interactions. In this note written in tribute to Gerry Brown, I first describe a case of an unambiguous signal in axial-charge transitions in nuclei and then combine his ideas with the more recent development on the role of hidden symmetries in nuclear physics. What transpires is the surprising conclusion that the Landau-Migdal fixed point interaction $G_0^\prime$, the nuclear tensor forces and Brown-Rho scaling, all encoded in scale-invariant hidden local symmetry, as Gerry put, "run the show and make all forces equal."