Evolution of shell structure in nuclei

Systematic investigations of the pairing and two-neutron separation energies which play a crucial role in the evolution of shell structure in nuclei, are carried out within the framework of relativistic mean-field model. The shell closures are found to be robust, as expected, up to the lead region. New shell closures appear in low mass region. In the superheavy region, on the other hand, it is found that the shell closures are not as robust, and they depend on the particular combinations of neutron and proton numbers. Effect of deformation on the shell structure is found to be marginal.