Mass number dependence of nuclear pairing

Large scale Hartree–Fock–Bogoliubov (HFB) calculations with the finite-range Gogny force D1S have been performed in order to extract the corresponding theoretical average mass dependence of the nuclear gap values. Good agreement with experimental data from the three-point filter Δ(3)(N) with N odd has been found for both the neutron and proton gaps. The results of our study support earlier findings [W. Satuła, J. Dobaczewski, W. Nazarewicz, Phys. Rev. Lett. 81 (1998) 3599] that the mass dependence of the gap is much weaker than the so far accepted 12 A−1/2 MeV law.