Abstract
Quantum electrodynamics (QED) is called the “jewel of atomic theory” because it allows for quantitative predictions of a huge number of atomic states using quantum mechanics. Although the QED techniques were adapted to the problems of nuclear theory in the 1950s, they did not lead to a rigorous quantum nucleodynamics (QND). The core problem has been the assumption of a central nuclear potential-well to bind nucleons together, in analogy with the Coulomb force that binds electrons to the nucleus. By replacing that fictitious long-range nuclear potential-well with the experimentally-known, short-range nuclear force, QND becomes possible.
Norman D. Cook