Fundamentals in Hadronic Atom Theory

Book excerpt: Hadronic atoms provide a unique laboratory for studying hadronic interactions essentially at threshold. This text is the first book-form exposition of hadronic atom theory with emphasis on recent developments, both theoretical and experimental. Since the underlying Hamiltonian is a non-self-adjoined operator, the theory goes beyond traditional quantum mechanics and this book covers topics that are often glossed over in standard texts on nuclear physics. The material contained here is intended for the advanced student and researcher in nuclear, atomic or elementary-particle physics. A good knowledge of quantum mechanics and familiarity with nuclear physics are presupposed. Contents: Theoretical Background: Hadronic Atoms OCo An Overview; Extended Quantum Mechanical Framework; Coulomb Wave Functions; Coulomb Propagator and Scattering Operators; Two-Potential Scattering Formalism; Bound States and Low-Energy Scattering; Atomic Spectrum; Gamow States and Completeness Problem; X-Ray Transition Rate; Computational Methods; Examples; Chiral Theory Primer; Comparison with Experiment: Two-Meson Atomic Bound States; Hadronic Hydrogen; Hadronic Deuterium; Hadronic Atoms with A OeN4. Readership: Graduate students and academics in nuclear, atomic, high-energy, computational, quantum and theoretical physics."