Symmetry Energy for Nuclei Beyond the Stability Valley

Abstract

We apply the direct variational method to derive the equation of state for finite nuclei within the stability valley. The extended Thomas-Fermi approximation for the energy functional with Skyrme forces is used. Using the leptodermous expansion for the profile nucleon densities, we have studied the neutron coat and the isospin symmetry energy for neutron-rich nuclei. Using equation of state for the pressure, we derive the region of spinodal instability of finite nuclei and its dependence on the mass number, the asymmetry parameter and the Skyrme force parameters. We suggest the procedure of derivation of the isospin symmetry energy from analysis of the isospin shift of chemical potential $\Delta\lambda = \lambda_n - \lambda_p$ beyond the beta-stability line.