Our first approach in analyzing data theoretically, is to see if we can use experimental information to

• Extract information about a so-called single-particle behavior
• And interpret such a behavior in terms of the underlying forces and microscopic physics

The next step is to see if we could use these interpretations to say something about shell closures and magic numbers. Since we focus on single-particle properties, a quantity we can extract from experiment is the separation energy for protons and neutrons. Before we proceed, we need to define quantities like masses and binding energies. Two excellent reviews on recent trends in the determination of nuclear masses can be found in the articles of Lunney and co-workers and Blaum and co-workers