Bethe-Brueckner-Goldstone Expansion in Nuclear Matter

The equation of state of symmetric nuclear matter at zero temperature is calculated up to the three hole-line level of approximation in the Bethe-Brueckner-Goldstone expansion. Both the standard and the continuous choices for the single particle auxiliary potential are considered. The resulting equation of state shows independence from the choice of the auxiliary potential to a high degree of accuracy. This result gives strong evidence for the convergence of the expansion and establishes the nuclear matter saturation curve for the adopted nucleon-nucleon interaction, the Argonne $v_{14}$ potential.