Dr Esra Yuksel

The effect of temperature on the evolution of the isovector dipole and isoscalar quadrupole excitations in Ni-68 and Sn-120 nuclei is studied within the fully self-consistent finite temperature quasiparticle random phase approximation framework, based on the Skyrme-type SLy5 energy density functional. The new low-energy excitations emerge due to the transitions from thermally occupied states to the discretized continuum at finite temperatures, whereas the isovector giant dipole resonance is not strongly impacted by the increase of temperature. The radiative dipole strength at low energies is also investigated for the Sn-122 nucleus, becoming compatible with the available experimental data when the temperature is included. In addition, both the isoscalar giant quadrupole resonance and low-energy quadrupole states are sensitive to the temperature effect: while the centroid energies decrease in the case of the isoscalar giant quadrupole resonance, the collectivity of the first 2(+) state is quenched and the opening of new excitation channels fragments the low-energy strength at finite temperatures.

In the present work, the isovector dipole responses, both in the resonance region and in the low-energy sector, are investigated using the microscopic nuclear Energy Density Functionals (EDFs). The self-consistent QRPA model based on Skyrme Hartree Fock BCS approach is applied to study the evolution of the isovector dipole strength by increasing neutron number and temperature. First, the isovector dipole strength and excitation energies are investigated for the Ni isotopic chain at zero temperature. The evolution of the low-energy dipole strength is studied as a function of the neutron number. In the second part, the temperature dependence of the isovector dipole excitations is studied using the self-consistent finite temperature QRPA, below and above the critical temperatures. It is shown that new excited states become possible due to the thermally occupied states above the Fermi level, and opening of the new excitations channels. In addition, temperature leads to fragmentation of the low-energy strength around the neutron separation energies, and between 9 and 12 MeV. We find that the cumulative sum of the strength below E

The relativistic and nonrelativistic finite temperature proton-neutron quasiparticle random phase approximation (FT-PNQRPA) methods are developed to study the interplay of the pairing and temperature effects on the Gamow-Teller excitations in open-shell nuclei, as well as to explore the model dependence of the results by using two rather different frameworks for effective nuclear interactions. The Skyrme-type functional SkM* is employed in the nonrelativistic framework, while the density-dependent meson-exchange interaction DD-ME2 is implemented in the relativistic approach. Both the isoscalar and isovector pairing interactions are taken into account within the FT-PNQRPA. Model calculations show that below the critical temperatures the Gamow-Teller excitations display a sensitivity to both the finite temperature and pairing effects, and this demonstrates the necessity for implementing both in the theoretical framework. The established FT-PNQRPA opens perspectives for the future complete and consistent description of astrophysically relevant weak interaction processes in nuclei at finite temperature such as beta decays, electron capture, and neutrino-nucleus reactions.

We investigate tensor effects in pygmy dipole excitations for the case of neutron-rich nuclei Ni-68 and Sn-124 using effective nucleon nucleon Skyrme interaction. We use the Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov (HFB) theory and employ the quasiparticle random phase approximation (ORPA). We calculate and compare the PDR and also GDR strength in the PDR, GDR energy region for QRPA calculations with and without tensor correlations. The most obvious results for the dipole excitations calculations are strongly dependent on the tensor terms. We see that the tensor correlations are more active at around 14-20 MeV, especially for the neutron-rich nuclei Ni-68. We also compare the FUR calculations with their experimental results for the different proton neutron tensor coupling constants.

In recent years, artificial neural networks and their applications for large data sets have become a crucial part of scientific research. In this work, we implement the Multilayer Perceptron (MLP), which is a class of feedforward artificial neural network (ANN), to predict ground-state binding energies of atomic nuclei. Two different MLP architectures with three and four hidden layers are used to study their effects on the predictions. To train the MLP architectures, two different inputs are used along with the latest atomic mass table and changes in binding energy predictions are also analyzed in terms of the changes in the input channel. It is seen that using appropriate MLP architectures and putting more physical information in the input channels, MLP can make fast and reliable predictions for binding energies of atomic nuclei, which is also comparable to the microscopic energy density functionals.

We study the finite temperature Hartree-Fock-BCS approximation for selected stable Sn nuclei with zero-range Skyrme forces. Hartree Fock BCS approximation allows for a straightforward interpretation of the results since it involves u and v's which are not matrices as in HFB. Pairing transitions from superfluid to the normal state are studied with respect to the temperature. The temperature dependence of the nuclear radii and neutron skin are also analyzed. An increase of proton and neutron radii is obtained in neutronrich nuclei, especially above the critical temperature. Using different Skyrme energy functionals, it is found that the correlation between the effective mass in symmetric nuclear matter and the critical temperature depends on the pairing prescription. The temperature dependence of the nucleon effective mass is also investigated, showing that proton and neutron effective masses display different behavior below and above the critical temperature, due to the small temperature dependence of the density.

The magic nature of the Ca-54 nucleus is investigated in light of recent experimental results. We employ both Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov and Hartree-Fock (HF)+BCS methods using Skyrme-type SLy5, SLy5+T, and T44 interactions. The evolution of the single-particle spectra is studied for the N = 34 isotones: Fe-60, Cr-58, Ti-56, and Ca-54. An increase is obtained in the neutron spin-orbit splittings of p and f states due to the effect of the tensor force which also makes Ca-54 a magic nucleus candidate. Quasiparticle random-phase approximation calculations on top of HF+BCS are performed to investigate the first J(pi) = 2(+) states of the calcium isotopic chain. A good agreement for excitation energies is obtained when we include the tensor force in the mean-field part of the calculations. The first 2(+) states indicate a subshell closure for both Ca-52 and Ca-54 nuclei. We confirm that the tensor part of the interaction is quite essential in explaining the neutron subshell closure in Ca-52 and Ca-54 nuclei.

Nuclear equation of state is often described in the framework of energy density functional. However, the isovector channel in most functionals has been poorly constrained, mainly due to rather limited available experimental data to probe it. Only recently, the relativistic nuclear energy density functional with an effective point-coupling interaction was constrained by supplementing the ground-state properties of nuclei with the experimental data on dipole polarizability and isoscalar monopole resonance energy in Pb-208, resulting in DD-PCX parameterization. In this work, we pursue a complementary approach by introducing a family of 8 relativistic point-coupling functionals that reproduce the same nuclear ground-state properties, including binding energies and charge radii, but in addition have a constrained value of symmetry energy at saturation density in the range J = 29, 30, ..., 36 MeV. In the next step, this family of functionals is employed in studies of excitation properties such as dipole polarizability and magnetic dipole transitions, and the respective experimental data are used to validate the optimal choice of functional as well as to assess reliable values of the symmetry energy and slope of the symmetry energy at saturation.

In this work, finite temperature Hartree Fock BCS (FT+HFBCS) calculations are performed in Sn isotopes with the zero-range Skyrme type interactions. Vanishing of pairing correlations due to the increase in temperature are investigated with various types of Skyrme interactions. In addition, dependence of the critical temperature with respect to the several properties of these energy density functionals are analysed.

beta-decay properties of nuclei are investigated within the relativistic nuclear energy density functional framework by varying the temperature and density, conditions relevant to the final stages of stellar evolution. Both thermal and nuclear pairing effects are taken into account in the description of nuclear properties and in the finite-temperature proton-neutron relativistic quasiparticle random-phase approximation (FT-PNRQRPA) to calculate the relevant allowed and first-forbidden transitions in the beta decay. The temperature and density effects are studied on the beta-decay half-lives at temperatures T = 0-1.5 MeV and at densities rho Y-e = 10(7) g/cm(3) and 10(9) g/cm(3). The relevant Gamow-Teller transitions are also investigated for Ti, Fe, Cd, and Sn isotopic chains at finite-temperatures. We find that the beta-decay half-lives increase with increasing density rho Y-e, whereas half-lives generally decrease with increasing temperature. It is shown that the temperature effects decrease the half-lives considerably in nuclei with longer half-lives at zero temperature, while only slight changes for nuclei with short half-lives are obtained. We also show the importance of including the de-excitation transitions in the calculation of the beta-decay half-lives at finite-temperatures. Comparing the FT-PNQRPA results with the shell-model calculations for pf -shell nuclei, a reasonable agreement is obtained for the temperature dependence of beta-decay rates. Finally, large-scale calculations of beta-decay half-lives are performed at temperatures T-9(K) = 5 and T-9(K) = 10 and densities rho Y-e = 10(7) and 10(9) g/cm(3) for even-even nuclei in the range 8

Neural networks have become popular in many fields of science since they serve as promising, reliable and powerful tools. In this work, we study the effect of data augmentation on the predictive power of neural network models for nuclear physics data. We present two different data augmentation techniques, and we conduct a detailed analysis in terms of different depths, optimizers, activation functions and random seed values to show the success and robustness of the model. Using the experimental uncertainties for data augmentation for the first time, the size of the training data set is artificially boosted and the changes in the root-mean-square error between the model predictions on the test set and the experimental data are investigated. Our results show that the data augmentation decreases the prediction errors, stabilizes the model and prevents overfitting. The extrapolation capabilities of the MLP models are also tested for newly measured nuclei in AME2020 mass table, and it is shown that the predictions are significantly improved by using data augmentation. •Multilayer perceptron with different depths make predictions for atomic nuclei.•Two different data augmentation techniques for regression are presented.•The effectiveness of augmentation techniques is verified by extensive experiments.•The data augmentation improves the results significantly, including extrapolation.•The proposed techniques also stabilize the model calculations.

We present a study on the isoscalar quadrupole strength in tin nuclei, focusing mainly on the low-energy region. The calculations are performed using the Skyrme-type energy density functionals within the fully self-consistent quasiparticle random phase approximation, allowing for a good description of the experimental data for the first 2(+) state and the isoscalar giant quadrupole resonance. It is found that the first 2(+) state and the low-energy quadrupole states between 3 and 6 MeV display an opposite behavior with increasing neutron number. While the strength of the first 2(+) state decreases, some excited states start to accumulate between 3 and 6 MeV, and increase their strength with increasing neutron number. This low-energy region between 3 and 6 MeV is quite sensitive to the changes in the shell structure with increasing neutron number. In particular, between Sn-116 and Sn-132, the filling of the neutron orbitals with large values of j, has an important impact on the low-energy region. Our analysis shows that the low-energy states have a noncollective character, except the first 2(+) state. In addition, the states in the low-energy region above 5 MeV display an interesting pattern: with the increase of the neutron number, their strength increases and their nature changes, namely they switch from proton excitations to neutron-dominated one. We conclude that the low-energy quadrupole states between 3 and 6 MeV can provide information about the shell evolution in open-shell nuclei.

Tensor effects in the dipole excitation of neutron-rich Ni-68 nucleus are investigated in the framework of Skyrme-Hartree-Fock plus random phase approximation at finite temperature. We calculate isovector giant and pygmy dipole strengths with finite temperature random phase approximation by using different tensor correlations. The effect of both tensor and finite temperature on the giant dipole resonance-pygmy dipole resonance energy region is analysed. Pygmy dipole resonance calculations with different proton-neutron tensor coupling constants are also compared with the experimental results. DOI: 10.12693/APhysPolA.123.320

The isoscalar monopole response is studied in doubly magic 208Pb , 100, 132Sn nuclei using the Skyrme HF+RPA model. A low-energy strength is predicted and corresponds to almost pure single-particle excitations. These pure single-particle excitations allow to analyse the splitting of the corresponding spin-orbit partners. A good agreement with the spin-orbit splitting data is found in the case of 208Pb . The experimental width of the giant monopole resonance may hinder the measurement of the soft monopole mode.

In this work; effects of tensor force on the evaluation of shell structure of Z = 28 and Z = 82 isotopes are investigated in the framework of Hartree-rock+BCS approach. Skyrrne type SLy5 and SIII interactions are used with and without tensor interaction. The effect of tensor force on the gap evaluation, single particle energies and spin-orbit splittings of the selected isotopic chain are presented. Pairing energy results are also discussed. It is shown that tensor force plays a crucial role in the evaluation of the single particle states and changing spin-orbit splittings of Nickel and Is ad isotopic chain.

In this work, we study the changes in the nuclear properties by performing systematic calculations on the selected isotopic and isotonic chains of nuclei with increasing temperature. The finite temperature Hartree–Fock–Bogoliubov (FT-HFB) calculations are performed using the Skyrme-type SkM* functional and mixed-type pairing interaction. The changes in the pairing properties, internal excitation energies, entropy, two-neutron separation energies, and neutron skin thickness of nuclei are systematically studied. It is shown that both the internal excitation energy and entropy are sensitive to the changes in the pairing properties of nuclei below the critical temperatures. At high temperatures and after T≥1 MeV, both of them increase rapidly. The nuclei near the neutron drip lines are affected more by the temperature effects since the continuum effects start to become dominant around these regions. On the other hand, the internal energy and entropy are not sensitive to the increase in the proton number, and the changes remain almost stable along an isotonic chain with increasing temperature. We also found that some nuclei near the neutron drip lines become bound at finite temperatures, whereas they are unstable against the two-neutron emission (S2n≤0 MeV). Investigation of the neutron skin thickness of nuclei shows that the temperature has a big impact on nuclei close to the neutron drip lines, and it considerably increases the neutron skin thickness of these nuclei at high temperatures.

The electric dipole excitations are investigated in the framework of the self-consistent HF+RPA approximation with Skyrme interactions. Magic O, Ca, Ni and Sn isotopes are used to investigate low-lying modes. Neutron and proton transition densities analysis of each nucleus is provided to examine the behavior of Pygmy Dipole Resonance (PDR) of nuclei under excitation, showing a complex pattern along the nuclear chart. The PDR in the very neutron-rich 70Ca nucleus exhibits a novel mode of excitation, the so-called arch mode. The collectivity of the PDR is also analysed.

In this work, the effect of temperature on Gamow-Teller strength is investigated using fully self-consistent finite temperature proton-neutron random phase approximation in the Fe-56 nucleus. The calculations are performed with Skyrme-type SkM* interaction at T = 0, 1, and 2 MeV. It is shown that temperature effects of the occupation probabilities of states and new excitation channels become possible due to the smearing of the Fermi surface. The Gamow-Teller excitation energies shift downward and new excited states are also obtained in the low-energy region due to the unblocked transitions at high temperatures.

We introduce a new relativistic energy density functional constrained by the ground state properties of atomic nuclei along with the isoscalar giant monopole resonance energy and dipole polarizability in Pb-208. A unified framework of the relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov model and random phase approximation based on the relativistic density-dependent point coupling interaction is established in order to determine the DD-PCX parametrization by chi(2) minimization. This procedure is supplemented with the covariance analysis in order to estimate statistical uncertainties in the model parameters and observables. The effective interaction DD-PCX accurately describes the nuclear ground state properties including the neutron-skin thickness, as well as the isoscalar giant monopole resonance excitation energies and dipole polarizabilities. The implementation of the experimental data on nuclear excitations allows constraining the symmetry energy close to the saturation density, and the incompressibility of nuclear matter by using genuine observables on finite nuclei in the chi(2) minimization protocol, rather than using pseudo-observables on the nuclear matter, or by relying on the ground state properties only, as it has been customary in the previous studies.

The electron-capture process plays an important role in the evolution of the core collapse of a massive star that precedes the supernova explosion. In this study, the electron capture on nuclei in stellar environment is described in the relativistic energy density functional framework, including both the finite-temperature and nuclear pairing effects. Relevant nuclear transitions J(pi) = 0(+/-), 1(+/-) , 2(+/- )are calculated using the finite-temperature proton-neutron quasiparticle random-phase approximation with the density-dependent meson-exchange effective interaction DD-ME2. The pairing and temperature effects are investigated in the Gamow-Teller transition strength as well as the electron-capture cross sections and rates for Ti-44 and Fe-56 in the stellar environment. It is found that the pairing correlations establish an additional unblocking mechanism similar to the finite-temperature effects, that can allow otherwise blocked single-particle transitions. Inclusion of pairing correlations at finite temperature can significantly alter the electron-capture cross sections, even up to a factor of 2 for Ti-44, while for the same nucleus electron-capture rates can increase by more than one order of magnitude. We conclude that for the complete description of electron capture on nuclei both pairing and temperature effects must be taken into account.

Finite temperature results in various effects on the properties of nuclear structure and excitations of relevance for nuclear processes in hot stellar environments. Here, we introduce the self-consistent finite temperature relativistic quasiparticle random phase approximation (FT-RQRPA) based on relativistic energy density functional with point coupling interaction for describing the temperature effects in electric dipole (E1) transitions. We perform a study of E1 excitations in the temperature range T = 0–2 MeV for the selected closed- and open-shell nuclei ranging from 40Ca to 60Ca and 100Sn to 140Sn by including both thermal and pairing effects. The isovector giant dipole resonance strength is slightly modified for the considered range of temperature, while new low-energy peaks emerge for E < 12 MeV with non-negligible strength in neutron-rich nuclei at high temperatures. The analysis of relevant two-quasiparticle configurations discloses how new excitation channels open due to thermal unblocking of states at finite temperature. The study also examines the isospin and temperature dependence of electric dipole polarizability (αD), resulting in systematic increase in the values of αD with increasing temperature, with a more pronounced effect observed in neutron-rich nuclei. The FT-RQRPA introduced in this work will open perspectives for microscopic calculation of γ -ray strength functions at finite temperatures relevant for nuclear reaction studies.

The Sky3D code has been widely used to describe nuclear ground states, collective vibrational excitations, and heavy-ion collisions. The approach is based on Skyrme forces or related energy density functionals. The static and dynamic equations are solved on a three-dimensional grid, and pairing is been implemented in the BCS approximation. This updated version of the code aims to facilitate the calculation of nuclear strength functions in the regime of linear response theory, while retaining all existing functionality and use cases. The strength functions are benchmarked against available RPA codes, and the user has the freedom of choice when selecting the nature of external excitation (from monopole to hexadecapole and more). Some utility programs are also provided that calculate the strength function from the time-dependent output of the dynamic calculations of the Sky3D code.

The exploration of nuclear mass or binding energy, a fundamental property of atomic nuclei, remains at the forefront of nuclear physics research due to limitations in experimental studies and uncertainties in model calculations, particularly when moving away from the stability line. In this work, we employ two machine learning (ML) models, support vector regression (SVR) and Gaussian process regression (GPR), to assess their performance in predicting nuclear mass excesses using available experimental data and a physics-based feature space. We also examine the extrapolation capabilities of these models using newly measured nuclei from AME2020 and by extending our calculations beyond the training and test set regions. Our results indicate that both SVR and GPR models perform quite well within the training and test regions when informed with a physics-based feature space. Furthermore, these ML models demonstrate the ability to make reasonable predictions away from the available experimental data, offering results comparable to the model calculations. Through further refinement, these models can be used as reliable and efficient ML tools for studying nuclear properties in the future.

Finite-temperature effects in electromagnetic transitions in nuclei contribute to many aspects of nuclear structure and astrophysically relevant nuclear reactions. While electric dipole transitions have already been extensively studied, the temperature sensitivity of magnetic transitions remains largely unknown. This work comprises the study of isovector magnetic dipole excitations (M1) occurring between spin-orbit (SO) partner states using the recently developed self-consistent finite-temperature relativistic quasiparticle random-phase approximation (FT-RQRPA) in the temperature range from T = 0 to 2 MeV. The M1 strength distributions of 40-60Ca and 100-140Sn isotopic chains exhibit a considerable temperature dependence. The M1 strength peaks shift significantly towards the lower energies due to the decrease in SO splitting energies and weakening of the residual interaction, especially above the critical temperatures where the pairing correlations vanish. By exploring the relevant two-quasiparticle configurations contributing to the M1 strength of closed- and open-shell nuclei, new proton and neutron excitation channels between SO partners are observed in low- and high-energy regions due to the thermal unblocking effects around the Fermi level. At higher temperatures, we have noticed an interesting result in 40,60Ca nuclei, the appearance of M1 excitations, which are forbidden at zero temperature due to fully occupied (or fully vacant) spin-orbit partner states.

Recent advancements, such as measurements of dipole polarizability and experiments involving parity-violating electron scattering on 48Ca (CREX) and 208Pb (PREX-II), have opened new perspectives for our understanding of nuclear energy density functionals (EDF). In particular, these advancements shed light on the isovector channel of the EDFs, which plays a pivotal role in determining properties related to symmetry energy and the thickness of the neutron skin in nuclei. Recently, a novel relativistic EDF DD-PCX has been developed based on point coupling interaction, adjusted using not only the ground state properties of nuclei but also the properties of isoscalar giant monopole resonance and the dipole polarizability in 208Pb. The DD-PCX interaction describes well the nuclear ground state properties, including the thickness of the neutron skin, and provides reasonable descriptions of nuclear excited states. Furthermore, the symmetry energy and its slope are found to be consistent with previous studies. Moreover, by applying the relativistic EDF framework, the consequences of the CREX and PREX-II electron scattering data have been investigated for the symmetry energy of nuclear matter and the isovector properties of finite nuclei, such as neutron skin thickness and dipole polarizability. The weak-charge form factors extracted from the CREX and PREX-II experiments have been directly used to optimize the relativistic density-dependent point coupling EDFs. Notably, the EDF derived from the CREX data yields substantially smaller values for parameters associated with symmetry energy, neutron skin thickness, and dipole polarizability for both 48Ca and 208Pb, when compared to the EDF derived from the PREX-II data, as well as previously established EDFs. It has become evident that the CREX and PREX-II experiments have not yielded consistent investigations and experimental studies are required to clarify these discrepancies.

We investigate the localization and clustering features in 20 Ne ( N = Z ) and neutron-rich 32 Ne nuclei at zero and finite temperatures. The finite temperature Hartree-Bogoliubov theory is used with the relativistic density-dependent meson-nucleon coupling functional DD-ME2. It is shown that clustering features gradually weaken with increasing temperature and disappear when the shape phase transition occurs. Considering thermal fluctuations in the density profiles, the clustering features vanish at lower temperatures, compared to the case without thermal fluctuations. The effect of the pairing correlations on the nucleon localization and the formation of cluster structures are also studied at finite temperatures. Due to the inclusion of pairing in the calculations, cluster structures are preserved until the critical temperatures for the shape phase transition are reached. Above the critical temperature of the shape phase transition, the clustering features suddenly disappear, which differs from the results without pairing.

Properties of nuclei in hot stellar environments such as supernovae or neutron star mergers are largely unexplored. Since it is poorly understood how many protons and neutrons can be bound together in hot nuclei, we investigate the limits of nuclear existence (drip lines) at finite temperature. Here, we present mapping of nuclear drip lines at temperatures up to around 20 billion kelvins using the relativistic energy density functional theory (REDF), including treatment of thermal scattering of nucleons in the continuum. With extensive computational effort, the drip lines are determined using several REDFs with different underlying interactions, demonstrating considerable alterations of the neutron drip line with temperature increase, especially near the magic numbers. At temperatures T ≲ 12 billion kelvins, the interplay between the properties of nuclear effective interaction, pairing, and temperature effects determines the nuclear binding. At higher temperatures, we find a surprizing result that the total number of bound nuclei increases with temperature due to thermal shell quenching. Our findings provide insight into nuclear landscape for hot nuclei, revealing that the nuclear drip lines should be viewed as limits that change dynamically with temperature. It is interesting and important to understand how the properties of nuclei and their stability change with temperature. Here the authors report their theoretical study of hot nuclei and the drip lines that limit the nuclear existence at finite temperature.

Recent precise parity-violating electron scattering experiments on 48Ca (CREX) and 208Pb (PREX-II) provide a new insight on the formation of neutron skin in nuclei. Within the energy density functional (EDF) framework, we investigate the implications of CREX and PREX-II data on nuclear matter symmetry energy and isovector properties of finite nuclei: neutron skin thickness and dipole polarizability. The weak-charge form factors from the CREX and PREX-II experiments are employed directly in constraining the relativistic density-dependent point coupling EDFs. The EDF established with the CREX data acquires considerably smaller values of the symmetry energy parameters, neutron skin thickness and dipole polarizability both for 48Ca and 208Pb, in comparison to the EDF obtained using the PREX-II data, and previously established EDFs. Presented analysis shows that CREX and PREX-II experiments could not provide consistent constraints for the isovector sector of the EDFs, and further theoretical and experimental studies are required.

In stellar environments nuclei appear at finite temperatures, becoming extremely hot in core-collapse supernovae and neutron-star mergers. However, due to theoretical and computational complexity, most model calculations of nuclear properties are performed at zero temperature, while those existing at finite temperatures are limited only to selected regions of the nuclide chart. In this study we perform the global calculation of nuclear properties for even-even 8 104 nuclei at temperatures in range 0 T 2 MeV. Calculations are based on the finite-temperature relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov model supplemented by the Bonche-Levit-Vautherin vapor subtraction procedure. We find that near the neutron-drip line the continuum states have significant contribution already at moderate temperature T ≈ 1 MeV, thus emphasizing the necessity of the vapor subtraction procedure. Results include neutron emission lifetimes, quadrupole deformations, neutron-skin thickness, proton and neutron pairing gaps, entropy and excitation energy. Up to the temperature T ≈ 1 MeV, the nuclear landscape is influenced only moderately by the finite-temperature effects, mainly by reducing the pairing correlations. As the temperature increases further, the effects on nuclear structures become pronounced, reducing both the deformations and the shell effects.

A clear connection can be established between properties of nuclear matter and finite-nuclei observables, such as the correlation between the slope of the symmetry energy and the dipole polarizability, or between compressibility and the isoscalar monopole giant resonance excitation energy. Establishing a connection between realistic atomic nuclei and an idealized infinite nuclear matter leads to a better understanding of underlying physical mechanisms that govern nuclear dynamics. In this work, we aim to study the dependence of the binding energies and related quantities (e.g., location of drip lines, the total number of bound even-even nuclei) on the symmetry energy S2(rho). The properties of finite nuclei are calculated by employing the relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov model, assuming even-even axial and reflection symmetric nuclei. Calculations are performed by employing two families of relativistic energy density functionals, based on different effective Lagrangians, constrained to a specific symmetry energy at the saturation density J within the interval of 30-36 MeV. Nuclear binding energies and related quantities of bound nuclei are calculated between 8 Z 104 from the two-proton to the two-neutron drip line. As the neutron drip line is approached, the interactions with stiffer J tend to predict more bound nuclei, resulting in a systematic shift of the two-neutron drip line towards more neutron-rich nuclei. Consequentially, a correlation between the number of bound nuclei Nnucl and S2(rho) is established for a set of functionals constrained using the similar optimization procedures. The direction of the relationship between the number of bound nuclei and the symmetry energy highly depends on the density under consideration.