Nuclear shell effects near the r-process path in the relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov theory -: art. no. 044301

We have investigated the evolution of the shell structure of nuclei in going from the r-process path to the neutron drip line within the framework of the relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov (RHB) theory. By introducing the quartic self-coupling of omega meson in the RHB theory in addition to the nonlinear scalar coupling of sigma meson, we reproduce the available data on the shell effects about the waiting-point nucleus Zn-80. With this approach, it is shown that the shell effects at N=82 in the inaccessible region of the r-process path become milder as compared to the Lagrangian with the scalar self-coupling only. However, the shell effects remain stronger as compared to the quenching exhibited by the HFB+SkP approach. It is also shown that in reaching out to the extreme point at the neutron drip line, a terminal situation arises where the shell structure at the magic number is washed out significantly.