Thomas-Fermi approach to nuclear mass formula. Pt. 3

The ETFSI method, developed in two earlier papers, is here used to construct a complete mass table. Since the method allows for interpolation both in the (N, Z) plane and with respect to deformations, without losing the characteristic shell-model fluctuations, it is some 2000 times faster than the HF-BCS method for a given force. The present table is calculated using a preliminary Skyrme-type force with δ-function pairing, fitted to a restricted data set of 491 spherical nuclei. The resulting rms error for all 1492 measured nuclei, sperical and deformed, with A≥36 is εrms=0.868 MeV, achieved with just 9 parameters. The main experimental trends in ground-state deformations are well followed. The symmetry coefficient of nuclear matter corresponding to our force is 27.5 MeV. Ways or rapidly improving the fit are indicated. (orig.)