Effective interactions and elementary excitations in nuclear matter

We present a polarization potential theory for nuclear matter. Starting from a realistic two-nucleon interaction, position space pseudopotentials which describe effective nucleon-nucleon interactions are constructed in a manner similar to that used by Aldrich and Pines in the helium liquids. Important modifications which result from tensor forces and three-body interactions are incorporated; exchange and screening effects are included. The resulting momentum-dependent quasiparticle interactions are used to calculate higher-order Fermi liquid parameters, dynamic and static structure functions, and static polarizabilities. Comparisons are made with recent microscopic calculations. (orig.)