"Nuclear density functional theory (DFT) can be employed to study properties of ground states (g.s.) and selected excited states of nuclei anywhere in the nuclear chart. The focus of this work is on the description of single-particle (s.p.) and collective motion in nuclei using nuclear DFT. Since nuclear collective phenomena result from a coherent motion of individual nucleons, the sharp distinction between these two modes cannot be made. For example, nuclear rotation leads to the alignment of angular momentum with rotational frequency, which results in the variation of occupations in s.p. orbitals. Spontaneous fission leads to not only large geometrical rearrangements, but also impacts the internal shell structure. This dissertation is divided into three parts. In the first part, I shall briefly introduce the nuclear model used. In the second part, the general formalism of nuclear DFT and its main ingredient, the energy density functional (EDF) will be outlined. In the last part, the applications of nuclear DFT will be presented. First, we study the nuclear shapes and associated rotational bands for nuclei with A 2248 110; yrast, near-yrast band structures, angular momentum alignments with rotational frequency, and transition quadrupole moments are analyzed and compared to experimental data. Then, based on the Kerman-Onishi condition, we perform systematic tilted-axis-cranking calculations for triaxial strongly deformed (TSD) bands in 160Yb, explain the nature of these TSD bands, and predict possible collective behavior at high spin. Next we explore cluster structures in light nuclei using the novel concept of the nucleon localization function (NLF). The NLF is then used to study the internal structure evolution and emergence of fragments in fissioning heavy nuclei along their predicted fission pathways. We then show that the NLF can be employed to identify fission fragments well before scission in 240Pu. The last section contains the conclusions of this dissertation and offers perspectives for future work."--Pages ii-iii.
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