Role of the $\delta$ Meson in Softening the Symmetry Energy within the DDRHF Model

Abstract

We investigate the effects of the isovector-scalar $\delta$ meson on the density dependence of the symmetry energy within the density-dependent relativistic Hartree--Fock (DDRHF) framework. As a baseline, we generate $1006$ accepted DDRHF parametrizations including the $\sigma$, $\omega$, $\rho$, and $\pi$ mesons by imposing empirical constraints on the saturation properties of nuclear matter. The resulting symmetry-energy slope parameters are confined to relatively large values, $L\simeq65$--$110~\mathrm{MeV}$. Two representative parametrizations, denoted RHF-NK1 and RHF-NK2, are randomly selected from this ensemble. Starting from these two parametrizations, we introduce the $\delta$ meson and readjust the meson--nucleon couplings under the same saturation-property constraints. The numerical optimization shows that small values of $L$ are obtained most efficiently when the $\delta$ coupling is taken to be constant. In this case, $L$ is reduced from approximately $73$ to $32~\mathrm{MeV}$, while the binding energy per nucleon, saturation density, symmetry energy, and incompressibility coefficient remain nearly unchanged. A channel-by-channel decomposition shows that the softening is not caused by the direct $\delta$-meson contribution alone, but by a redistribution among the $\delta$, $\rho$, and $\pi$ mesons together with the isoscalar Fock contributions. The resulting neutron-star mass--radius relations shift toward smaller radii, indicating that the $\delta$ meson provides an efficient additional degree of freedom for controlling the isovector properties of DDRHF models.