  An analysis of nuclear properties based on a relativistic energy functional
containing Dirac nucleons and classical scalar and vector meson fields is
discussed. Density functional theory implies that this energy functional can
include many-body effects that go beyond the simple Hartree approximation.
Using basic ideas from effective field theory, a systematic truncation scheme
is developed for the energy functional, which is based on an expansion in
powers of the meson fields and their gradients.
  Chiral models are analyzed by considering specific lagrangians that realize
the spontaneously broken chiral symmetry of QCD in different ways and by
studying them at the Hartree level. Models that include a light scalar meson
playing a dual role as the chiral partner of the pion and the mediator of the
intermediate-range nucleon-nucleon interaction, and which include a
"Mexican-hat" potential, fail to reproduce basic ground-state properties of
nuclei. In contrast, chiral models with a nonlinear realization of the symmetry
are shown to contain the full flexibility inherent in the general energy
functional and can therefore successfully describe nuclei.
