Nuclear capture in the atomic cascade of kaonic, antiprotonic and sigma hyperonic exotic atoms

Abstract

Ratios of nuclear capture rates are shown to increase with increasing principal quantum number n for a given orbital quantum number l , in the high- n , high- l states most relevant to studies of the exotic hadronic atoms of heavy particles. This surprising behaviour, which is confirmed by optical-model calculations, is in contrast to similar capture ratios in pionic atoms at low atomic number. Plots of the relevant hydrogenic atom wave functions are shown to explain such effects.