The one-body density matrix is derived within the Extended Thomas-Fermi approximation. This has been done starting from the Wigner-Kirkwood distribution function for a non-local single-particle potential. The links between this new approach to the density matrix with former ones available in the literature are widely discussed. The semiclassical Hartree-Fock energy at Extended Thomas-Fermi level is also obtained in the case of a non-local one-body Hamiltonian. Numerical applications are performed using the Gogny and Brink-Boeker effective interactions. The semiclassical binding energies and root mean square radii are compared with the fully quantal ones and with those obtained using the Strutinsky averaged method.

In this paper we propose a generalization of the density functional theory. The theory leads to single-particle equations of motion with a quasilocal mean-field operator, which contains a quasiparticle position-dependent effective mass and a spin-orbit potential. The energy density functional is constructed using the extended Thomas-Fermi approximation and the ground-state properties of doubly magic nuclei are considered within the framework of this approach. Calculations were performed using the finite-range Gogny D1S forces and the results are compared with the exact Hartree-Fock calculations.

A new method to incorporate the Pauli principle into the double folding approach to the nucleus-nucleus potential is proposed. The description of the exchange terms at the level of the quasiclassical one-body density matrix is used. It is shown that in order to take into account the Pauli blocking properly, a redefinition of the density matrices of the free isolated nuclei must be done. A solution to the self-consistent incorporation of the Pauli blocking effects in the mean-field nucleus-nucleus potential is obtained in the Thomas-Fermi approximation.

The extension of density functional theory (DFT) to include pairing correlations without formal violation of the particle-number conservation condition is described. This version of the theory can be considered as a foundation of the application of existing DFT plus pairing approaches to atoms, molecules, ultracooled and magnetically trapped atomic Fermi gases, and atomic nuclei where the number of particles is conserved exactly. The connection with Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov (HFB) theory is discussed, and the method of quasilocal reduction of the nonlocal theory is also described. This quasilocal reduction allows equations of motion to be obtained which are much simpler for numerical solution than the equations corresponding to the nonlocal case. Our theory is applied to the study of some even Sn isotopes, and the results are compared with those obtained in the standard HFB theory and with the experimental ones.