Nuclear matter equation of state with single particle correlations

Symmetrical nuclear matter at finite temperature is studied in the framework of the Brueckner-Hartree-Fock approximation extended to include single-particle correlations. A liquid-vapor phase transition is observed, with a critical temperature of about 20 MeV, in close similarity with Skyrme force calculations. The inclusion of single-particle correlations introduces a significant temperature dependence in the single-particle potential as well as in the nucleon effective mass. In this scheme the Hughenholtz-Van Hove theorem is well satisfied throughout the range of density and temperature considered. (orig.)