Odd-even staggering of binding energies as a consequence of pairing and mean-field effects

Odd-even staggering of binding energies is studied in finite fermion systems with pairing correlations. We discuss contributions of the pairing and mean field to the staggering, and we construct the binding-energy indicators which measure the magnitude of pairing correlations and the effective single-particle spacings in a given system. The analysis is based on studying several exactly solvable many-body Hamiltonians as well as on the analytical formulas that can be applied in the weak and strong pairing limits.