Symmetry Energy and Structure of Exotic Nuclei

The symmetry energy, the neutron pressure and the asymmetric compressibility of spherical Ni, Sn, Pb and deformed Kr, Sm neutron-rich even-even nuclei are calculated within the coherent density fluctuation model using the symmetry energy as a function of density within the Brueckner energy-density functional. The correlation between the thickness of the neutron skin and the characteristics related with the density dependence of the nuclear symmetry energy is investigated for isotopic chains of these nuclei in the framework of the deformed self-consistent mean-field Skyrme HF+BCS method. The mass dependence of the nuclear symmetry energy and the neutron skin thickness are also studied together with the role of the neutron-proton asymmetry. The studied correlations reveal a smoother behavior in the case of spherical nuclei than for deformed ones. We also notice that the neutron skin thickness obtained for Pb-208 with SLy4 force is found to be in a good agreement with the recent data. In addition to the interest that this study may have by itself, we give some numerical arguments in proof of the existence of peculiarities of the studied quantities in Ni and Sn isotopic chains that are not present in the Pb chain.