A possible quark mechanism for the saturation of nuclear matter

Abstract A nuclear matter saturation mechanism based on the quark structure of the nucleon is proposed. Nuclear matter is described by nucleons and mesons but the meson field modifies the internal quark motion and this induces a saturation mechanism. Its possible relevance for nuclear physics is studied in a schematic model where it is the only active mechanism. Though caricatural, this model provides a rather satisfactory interpretation of the nuclear matter properties.