Description of spin and isospin collective excitations with a nuclear energy density functional constrained by low-energy QCD

We have recently formulated a novel approach to nuclear DFT, emphasizing links between low-energy QCD, its symmetry breaking pattern, and the nuclear many-body dynamics. Promising results have been obtained in the description of ground-state observables over a wide range of spherical and deformed nuclei. In particular, we have shown that chiral pionic fluctuations with explicit Δ(1232) excitations account for the isovector dependent part of the nuclear interaction. The relativistic random phase approximation, based on the equivalent point-coupling model with density dependent contact interactions, has been developed and applied in studies of low-energy collective excitations. Especially important is the investigation of the role of chiral pion-nucleon dynamics in excitation modes which include spin and isospin degrees of freedom, e.g. isobaric analog states and Gamow Teller resonances.