Microscopic mean field approximation and beyond with the Gogny force

We review the main results of several works using the finite range Gogny interaction within mean field-based approaches. Starting from static mean field description, a GCM-like method including rotational degrees of freedom, namely the five-dimension collective Hamiltonian, is applied. The theoretical results are used to interpret the shell evolution along the N = 16 isotonic chain. The quasiparticle random-phase-approximation formalism is introduced and used to simultaneously describe high- and low-energy spectroscopy as well as collective and individual excitations. After a discussion on the role of the intrinsic deformation in giant resonances, the appearance of low-energy dipole resonances in light nuclei is analysed. Finally, a comparison of the low-energy spectroscopy obtained with these two extensions of static mean field is performed for 2⁺ states of N = 16 isotopes. (authors)