NUCLEAR-MATTER INCOMPRESSIBILITY COEFFICIENT AND GIANT MONOPOLE RESONANCE

We examine the current status of nuclear matter incompressibility coef ficient, K(nm), deduced from experimental data on the strength functio n of the isoscalar giant monopole resonance (ISGMR) in nuclei. We revi ew the results obtained by using a microscopic (continuum) random phas e approximation (RPA) calculation and by using a semi-empirical expans ion of the nucleus incompressibility coefficient K(A) in A-1/3. We dis cuss the accuracy of the semi-empirical expansion and present argument s indicating that all the coefficients in this expansion must be deter mined by a fit to the data. Contrary to recent claims, the present com plete data set is not adequate to limit the range of K(nm) to better t han 200-350 MeV when employing the semi-empirical approach.