NUCLEAR BREATHING MODE IN THE RELATIVISTIC MEAN-FIELD THEORY

The breathing-mode giant monopole resonance is studied within the framework of the relativistic mean-field (RMF) theory. Using a broad range of parameter sets, an analysis of constrained incompressibility and excitation energy of isoscalar monopole states in finite nuclei is performed. It is shown that the nonlinear scalar self-interaction and the resulting surface properties influence the breathing-mode energies considerably. It is observed that dynamical surface properties respond differently in the RMF theory than in the Skyrme approach. A comparison is made with the incompressibility derived from the semi-infinite nuclear matter and with constrained non-relativistic Skyrme Hartree-Fock calculations.