The program of systematic large-scale self-consistent nuclear mass
calculations that is based on the nuclear density functional theory represents
a rich scientific agenda that is closely aligned with the main research
directions in modern nuclear structure and astrophysics, especially the
radioactive nuclear beam physics. The quest for the microscopic understanding
of the phenomenon of nuclear binding represents, in fact, a number of
fundamental and crucial questions of the quantum many-body problem, including
the proper treatment of correlations and dynamics in the presence of symmetry
breaking. Recent advances and open problems in the field of nuclear mass
calculations are presented and discussed.Comment: 21 pages, 5 figures, submitted to International Journal of Mass
Spectrometr