Dirkfest ‘92 - A Symposium In Honor Of J D Walecka’s Sixtieth Birthday

Professor J Dirk Walecka has made significant and lasting contributions to the field of nuclear physics. His work on many-body theory and electron scattering from nuclei profoundly influenced the direction of research in electromagnetic nuclear physics. His formulation of semileptonic weak interactions with nuclei introduced many nuclear physicists to the ‘standard model’ and the concept of the nucleus as a ‘laboratory’ for studying fundamental interactions. His development of meson-baryon field theories for nuclear systems (‘quantum hadrodynamics’) initiated novel research on relativistic effects in nuclei, high-density nuclear matter, and applications of field-theoretic techniques to the nuclear many-body problem.This proceedings focusses on three major areas of Professor Walecka’s research: many-body theory, electroweak interactions in nuclei and relativistic nuclear physics. The topics discussed cover a broad and interesting range in condensed matter physics, nuclear physics, high-energy physics and cosmology.