Odd-even staggering of binding energies as a consequence of pairing and mean-field effects - art. no. 024308

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