Role of the in-medium four-quark condensates reexamined

We calculate the nucleon self-energies in nuclear matter in the QCD sum rules approach, taking into account the contributions of the four-quark condensates. We analyze the dependence of the results on the model employed for the calculation of the condensates and demonstrate that the relativistic character of the models is important. The condensates are calculated with inclusion of the most important terms beyond the gas approximation. This corresponds to inclusion of the two-body nucleon forces and of the most important three-body forces. The results are consistent with the convergence of the operator product expansion. The density dependence of the nucleon self-energies is obtained. The results are consistent with those obtained by the standard nuclear physics methods, thus inspiring further development of the approach.