Shell Corrections for Finite-Depth Deformed Potentials: Green's Function Oscillator Expansion Method

Shell corrections of the finite deformed Woods-Saxon potential are calculated using the Green's function method and the generalized Strutinsky smoothing procedure. They are compared with the results of the standard prescription which are affected by the spurious contribution from the unphysical particle gas. In the new method, the shell correction approaches the exact limit provided that the dimension of the single-particle (harmonic oscillator) basis is sufficiently large. For spherical potentials, the present method is faster than the exact one in which the contribution from the particle continuum states is explicitly calculated. For deformed potentials, the Green's function method offers a practical and reliable way of calculating shell corrections for weakly bound nuclei.