Abstract
Relativistic mean-field equations are obtained by minimizing the effective energy obtained from the gauge-invariant energy density by eliminating electromagnetic degrees of freedom in certain characteristic nonlinear gauges. It is shown that by an appropriate choice of gauge many-body correlations, e.g. screening and three-body 'forces', can be included at the mean-field level. The many-body perturbation theory built on the latter is then expected to show improved 'convergence'.