Can the nucleon axial charge be O (N0c)?

The nucleon self-energy and its relation to the nucleon axial charge g(A) are discussed at large N-c. The energy is compared for the hedgehog, conventional, and recently proposed dichotomous nucleon wave functions which give different values for g,,. We consider their energies at both perturbative and non perturbative levels. In perturbative estimates, we take into account the pion exchanges among quarks up tt the third orders of axial charge vertices, including the many-body forces such as the Wess-Zumino terms. I turns out that the perturbative pion exchanges among valence quarks give the same leading Arc contribution: for three wavefunctions, while their mass differences are O(A(QCD)). The signs of splittings flip for different orders of the axial charge vertices, so it is hard to conclude which one is the most energetically favored For non-perturbative estimates involving the modification of quark bases, we use the chiral quark solitor model as an illustration. With the hedgehog quark wavefunctions with g(A) of O(N-c), we investigate whethe solutions with coherent pions are energetically favored. Again it is hard to give decisive conclusions, but i is possible that adding the confining effects disfavors the solution with the coherent pions, making a pior cloud around a nucleon quantum rather than coherent. The nuclear matter at large N-c is also discussed ir light of the value of g(A.) (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.