Theoretical understanding of the nuclear incompressibility: where do we stand?

Abstract

The status of the theoretical research on the compressional modes of finite nuclei and the incompressibility K ∞ of nuclear matter, is reviewed. It is argued that the recent experimental data on the Isoscalar Giant Monopole Resonance (ISGMR) allow extracting the value of K ∞ with an uncertainity of about ± 12 MeV. Non-relativistic (Skyrme, Goguy) and relativistic mean field models predict for K ∞ values which are significantly different from one another, namely ≈ 220–235 and 250–270 MeV respectively. It is shown that the solution of this puzzle requires a better determination of the symmetry energy at, and around, saturation. The role played by the experimental data of the Isoscalar Giant Dipole Resonance (ISGDR) is also discussed.