Positronium-ion decay.
We present a precise theoretical prediction for the decay width of the bound state of two electrons and a positron (a negative positronium ion), Gamma(Ps-)=2.087 963(12)/ns. We include O(alpha2) effects of hard virtual photons as well as soft corrections to the wave function and the decay amplitude. An outcome of a large-scale variational calculation, this is the first result for second-order corrections to a decay of a three-particle bound state. It will be tested experimentally in the new positronium-ion facility in Garching in Germany.
Puchalski
Mariusz
M
Department of Physics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2G7, Canada.
Czarnecki
Andrzej
A
Karshenboim
Savely G
SG