NEW DISCRETE BASIS FOR NUCLEAR-STRUCTURE STUDIES

A complete discrete set of spherical single-particle wave functions fo r studies of weakly bound many-body systems is proposed. The new basis is obtained by means of a local-scale point transformation of the sph erical harmonic oscillator wave functions. Unlike the harmonic oscilla tor states, the new wave functions decay exponentially at large distan ces. Using the new basis, characteristics of weakly bound orbitals are analyzed and the ground state properties of some spherical doubly mag ic nuclei are studied. The basis of the transformed harmonic oscillato r is a significant improvement over the harmonic oscillator basis, esp ecially in studies of exotic nuclei where the coupling to the particle continuum is important. [S0556-2813(98)07610-9].