1. Lifetime of Kaonium
- Author
-
R. H. Lemmer, F. P. Sassen, and S. Krewald
- Subjects
pair production [K] ,Nuclear and High Energy Physics ,Particle physics ,potential ,Meson ,lifetime [bound state] ,Strong interaction ,Hadron ,FOS: Physical sciences ,Elementary particle ,f0(980) ,a0(980) ,scattering length [K anti-K] ,mass spectrum ,Pion ,High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph) ,ddc:530 ,ground state ,energy levels ,annihilation [pi+ pi-] ,annihilation [K anti-K] ,numerical calculations ,wave function [bound state] ,exotic [atom] ,Physics ,tables ,Annihilation ,effective Lagrangian ,bibliography ,Scattering length ,SU(3) x SU(3) [symmetry] ,binding energy ,High Energy Physics - Phenomenology ,bound state [K+ K-] ,High Energy Physics::Experiment ,Atomic physics ,Ground state ,exchange [vector meson] - Abstract
The kaon--antikaon system is studied in both the atomic and the strongly interacting sector. We discuss the influence of the structures of the $f_0(980)$ and the $a_0(980)$ mesons on the lifetime of kaonium. The strong interactions are generated by vector meson exchange within the framework of the standard $SU(3)_V\times SU(3)_A$ invariant effective Lagrangian. In the atomic sector, the energy levels and decay widths of kaonium are determined by an eigenvalue equation of the Kudryavtsev--Popov type, with the strong interaction effects entering through the complex scattering length for $K\bar K$ scattering and annihilation. The presence of two scalar mesons, $f_0(980)$ and $a_0(980)$, leads to a ground state energy for the kaonium atom that is shifted above the point Coulomb value by a few hundred eV. The effect on the lifetime for the kaonium decay into two pions is much more dramatic. This lifetime is reduced by two orders of magnitude from $0.8\times 10^{-16}$ sec for annihilation in a pure Coulomb field down to $3.1\times 10^{-18}$ sec when the strong interactions are included. The analysis of the two photon decay width of the $f_0(980)$ suggests a generalization of the molecular picture which reduces the lifetime of kaonium still further to $1.1\times 10^{-18}\textrm{sec}$., 33 pages, 12 figures;3 new figures and new comment concerning the a0
- Published
- 2003