The breathing-mode giant monopole resonance is studied within the framework
of the relativistic mean-field (RMF) theory. Using a broad range of parameter
sets, an analysis of constrained incompressibility and excitation energy of
isoscalar monopole states in finite nuclei is performed. It is shown that the
non-linear scalar self-interaction and the resulting surface properties
influence the breathing-mode considerably. It is observed that dynamical
surface properties respond differently in the RMF theory than in the Skyrme
approach. A comparison is made with the incompressibility derived from the
semi-infinite nuclear matter and with constrained nonrelativistic Skyrme
Hartree-Fock calculaions.Comment: Latex (12 pages) and 3 figures (available upon request) J. Phys. G
(in press