A variational calculation of nuclear matter binding with the Reid potential

A contrained vibrational calculation for the binding energy of nuclear matter using the Reid soft core interaction and with tensor correlations treated exactly, is presented. Saturation is achieved at a density given by ksub(F) approximately 1.75 fm-1 with a binding energy of 22 MeV per nucleon. This represents considerably more binding than is obtained in low order Brueckner perturbation calculations or in Pandharipande's lowest order constrained variational approach. (Auth.)