A simple pattern of organization, the nuclear shell structure, emerges from the complex interactions between nucleons in nuclei and determines, to some significant degree, nuclear structure properties. Recent experimental investigations of exotic nuclei revealed a shortfall in our current understanding of nuclear shell evolution and nuclear magicity. We introduce a novel perspective in the Energy Density Functional framework, where the Dirac mass kinetic term, which stems from the singular participation of a spin-0 boson in the nuclear strong force, plays a pivotal role in generating the nuclear shell structure. Namely, the combination of the Dirac mass kinetic term with the spin-orbit term redefines magic numbers in both stable and exotic nuclei. The identification of this mechanism enables a broad understanding of the origin and evolution of nuclear magic numbers.

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• Nuclear density functional theory
• Nuclear forces
• Nuclear many-body theory
• Nucleon-nucleon interactions
• 20 ≤ A ≤ 38
• 39 ≤ A ≤ 58
• 59 ≤ A ≤ 89
• 6 ≤ A ≤ 19
• 90 ≤ A ≤ 149
• A ≤ 5
• Nuclear binding