Relativistic mean-field description of nuclei at the drip lines
We present a review of recent applications of the relativistic mean-field theory to the structure of nuclei close to the drip-lines. For systems with extreme isospin values, the relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov model provides a unified and self-consistent description of mean-field and pairing correlations. The model has been applied in studies of structure phenomena that include: formation of neutron skin and of neutron halos in light nuclei in the mass region above the s-d neutron shell, the strong isospin dependence of the effective spin-orbit interaction and the resulting modification of surface properties, the suppression of the spherical N=28 shell gap for neutron-rich nuclei and the related phenomenon of deformation and shape coexistence, the proton drip-line in the spherical nuclei $14\leq Z \leq 28$, and ground-state proton radioactivity in the region of deformed nuclei $59 \leq Z \leq 69$.