Covariant Density Functional Theory for Nuclear Structure and Application in Astrophysics

The density functional theory with a minimal number of parameters allows a very successful phenomenological description of ground state properties of nuclei all over the nuclear chart. The recent progress on the application of the covariant density functional theory for nuclear structure and astrophysics as well as its extensions by the group in Beijing is summarized. Particularly, its application to the low-lying excited states in exotic and/or transitional nuclei is discussed in details.