Fractional exclusion statistics applied to relativistic nuclear matter

► Walecka's relativistic mean field model is extended by describing the nucleons as fractional exclusion statistics particles. ► We study the effect of statistics on the effective mass of the nucleons and thermodynamic properties of the system. ► At low temperatures the system undergoes Bose-Einstein condensation and the effective mass vanishes. ► The fractional exclusion statistics may account for the effects of the residual interaction in the mean field theory.