Nuclear matter within the continuous choice in the full Dirac space

The relativistic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock equations are solved self-consistently for symmetric nuclear matter in the full Dirac space within the continuous choice for the single-particle potential. Inspired from the nucleon-nucleon scattering in the free space, the energy denominator of the scattering equation in the nuclear medium is rewritten and a complex Thompson equation for the effective interaction G matrix is derived. By decomposing the matrix elements of the single-particle potential operator in the full Dirac space, both the real and the imaginary parts of the single-particle potential are determined uniquely. The single-particle energy and Dirac mass behave continuously through the Fermi surface as expected. By comparing the equation of state obtained within the continuous choice with that obtained within the gap choice and in-between choice, the convergence of the hole-line expansion is discussed.