Nuclear physics from QCD on lattice

Abstract: We have presented a strategy to study nuclei and nuclear matters from first principles, namely, from QCD. We first compute nucleon-nucleon potentials numerically in lattice QCD, and then use them to investigate properties of nuclei and nuclear matter by various methods developed in nuclear physics. As a demonstration that this strategy works, mass and structure of ^4^He, ^16^O and ^40^Ca, and equation of state of nuclear matters are determined with the lattice QCD induced two-nucleon potentials in a heavy quark region as an input. We have found that these nuclei and the symmetric nuclear matter are bound at one quark mass corresponding to the pseudo-scalar meson (pion) mass of 469 MeV (the octet baryon (nucleon) mass of 1161 MeV). The obtained binding energy per nucleon has a uniform mass-number A dependence which is consistent to the Bethe-Weizsacker mass formula qualitatively. The present study demonstrates that our strategy works well to investigate various properties of atomic nuclei and nuclear matter starting from QCD, without depending on models or experimental information about the nuclear force.