  We explore the ground-state properties of nuclear clusters embedded in a gas
of nucleons with the help of Skyrme-Hartree-Fock microscopic calculations. Two
alternative representations of clusters are introduced, namely coordinate-space
and energy-space clusters. We parameterize their density profiles in spherical
symmetry in terms of basic properties of the energy density functionals used
and propose an analytical, Woods-Saxon density profile whose parameters depend,
not only on the composition of the cluster, but also of the nucleon gas. We
study the clusters' energies with the help of the local-density approximation,
validated through our microscopic results. We find that the volume energies of
coordinate-space clusters are determined by the saturation properties of
matter, while the surface energies are strongly affected by the presence of the
gas. We conclude that both the density profiles and the cluster energies are
strongly affected by the gas and discuss implications for the nuclear EoS and
related perspectives. Our study provides a simple, but microscopically
motivated modeling of the energetics of clusterized matter at subsaturation
densities, for direct use in consequential applications of astrophysical
interest.
