A new topological “twist” to BR scaling

When vector mesons are considered on the same footing as pions as suggested by hidden local symmetry, the property of the nuclear tensor forces is strongly controlled by the behavior of the vector mesons in dense medium. This led to BR scaling in 1991. When baryons as skyrmions are put on crystal, there can be a phase transition from skyrmions to half-skyrmions at a density above that of normal nuclear matter. This topology change can induce fundamental changes to the parameters in hidden local symmetric Lagrangian, hence BR scaling, and brings a drastic modification to the structure of nuclear forces, in particular, the tensor forces. This can have far-reaching consequences on the EoS of compact-star matter and the structure of neutron-rich nuclei.