Solution of Hartree-Fock equations in coordinate space for axially symmetric nuclei

As an alternative to the conventional deformed harmonic oscillator basis expansion, a method is developed in which the coupled integro-differential Hartree-Fock equations are solved directly in coordinate space for a simple effective interaction. The single particle wave functions are obtained on a finite mesh by minimizing a discretized energy functional and solving the resulting finite difference equations using the Lanczos algorithm. Expressions to correct the total energy to second order in the mesh spacing are derived, and the accuracy of the method is demonstrated by numerical comparison with spherical results. Applications and advantages of this new technique are briefly discussed.