Large-scale self-consistent nuclear mass calculations

The program of systematic large-scale self-consistent nuclear mass calculations that is based on the nuclear density functional theory represents a rich scientific agenda that is closely aligned with the main research directions in modern nuclear structure and astrophysics, especially the radioactive nuclear beam physics. The quest for the microscopic understanding of the phenomenon of nuclear binding represents, in fact, a number of fundamental and crucial questions of the quantum many-body problem, including the proper treatment of correlations and dynamics in the presence of symmetry breaking. Recent advances and open problems in the field of nuclear mass calculations are presented and discussed. (C) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.