NUCLEAR SHELL STRUCTURE AT PARTICLE DRIP LINES

The shell structure of exotic nuclei near proton and neutron drip line s is discussed in terms of the self-consistent mean-field theory. It i s demonstrated that when approaching the neutron drip line, the neutro n density becomes very diffused and the single-particle spectrum shows similarities to that of the harmonic oscillator with spin-orbit term. Interaction between bound orbitals and continuum is shown to result i n quenching of shell effects in light and medium systems.