Instability in relativistic mean-field theories of nuclear matter

We investigate the stability of the nuclear matter ground state with respect to small-perturbations of the meson fields in relativistic mean-field theories. The popular σ-ω model is shown to have an instability at about twice the nuclear density, which gives rise to a new ground state with periodic spin alignment. Taking into account the contributions of the Dirac sea properly, this instability vanishes. Consequences for relativistic heavy-ion-collisions are discussed briefly. (orig.)