Solution of the Skyrme HF+BCS equation on a 3D mesh. II. A new version of the Ev8 code

Abstract

We describe a new version of the EV8 code that solves the nuclear Skyrme-Hartree-Fock+BCS problem using a 3-dimensional cartesian mesh. Several new features have been implemented with respect to the earlier version published in 2005. In particular, the numerical accuracy has been improved for a given mesh size by (i) implementing a new solver to determine the Coulomb potential for protons (ii) implementing a more precise method to calculate the derivatives on a mesh that had already been implemented earlier in our beyond-mean-field codes. The code has been made very flexible to enable the use of a large variety of Skyrme energy density functionals that have been introduced in the last years. Finally, the treatment of the constraints that can be introduced in the mean-field equations has been improved. The code Ev8 is today the tool of choice to study the variation of the energy of a nucleus from its ground state to very elongated or triaxial deformations with a well-controlled accuracy.