Isospin mixing in the vicinity of the N=Z line

Abstract

We present the isospin- and angular-momentum-projected nuclear density functional theory (DFT) and its applications to the isospin-breaking corrections to the superallowed beta-decay rates in the vicinity of the N=Z line. A preliminary value obtained for the Cabbibo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix element, |V_{ud}|=0.97463(24), agrees well with the recent estimate by Towner and Hardy [Phys. Rev. C{\bf 77}, 025501 (2008)]. We also discuss new opportunities to study the symmetry energy by using the isospin-projected DFT.