Correlation energy contribution to nuclear masses

The ground-state correlation energies associated with collective surface and pairing vibrations are calculated for Pb and Ca isotopes. It is shown that this contribution, when added to those predicted by one of the most accurate modern nuclear mass formulae (HFBCS MSk7 mass formula), reduces the associated rms error by an important factor, making mean-field theory, once its time dependence is taken into account, a quantitative predictive tool for nuclear masses.