Nuclear mass formulas for astrophysics

We review the Hartree–Fock–Bogolyubov mass models of the Brussels–Montreal group and compare their suitability for astrophysical purposes with three other modern mass formulas: the FRDM of Möller et al., the KUTY model of Koura et al., and the Duflo–Zuker 1995 model. In addition to considering the quality of their respective fits to the data of the atomic mass evaluation of December 2003, we also compare their extrapolations out towards the neutron drip line. The implications for fission barriers and the role of the equation of state of neutron matter are both discussed.