- Physical Review Journals
All JournalsPhysics Magazine

Physical Review C

Reuse & Permissions

It is not necessary to obtain permission to reuse this article or its components as it is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI are maintained. Please note that some figures may have been included with permission from other third parties. It is your responsibility to obtain the proper permission from the rights holder directly for these figures.

Export citation

Export citation

Choose format for download:

Download Citation
  • Open Access

Stability conditions for bound states in antiprotonic atoms

Fredrik Parnefjord Gustafsson1,*, Daniel Pęcak2, and Tomasz Sowiński2

  • *Contact author: fredrik.parnefjord.gustafsson@cern.ch
PDF

Phys. Rev. C 112, 015207 – Published 17 July, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/c5z1-3dtq

Abstract

We study the stability of bound antiprotons in close proximity to the atomic nucleus. Using experimental data from x-ray spectroscopy measurements of antiprotonic atom transitions, we tune a minimal theoretical framework and estimate parameter ranges where the strong or electromagnetic decay channels govern the stability of the deepest bound states. In this way, we present an overview of the dominant decay mechanism of antiprotonic orbits for a given principle quantum number, to assist future spectroscopic experiments on antiprotonic atoms.

View figure in article

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

References (56)

  1. M. S. Safronova, D. Budker, D. DeMille, D. F. J. Kimball, A. Derevianko, and C. W. Clark, Rev. Mod. Phys. 90, 025008 (2018).
  2. M. G. Kozlov, M. S. Safronova, J. R. Crespo López-Urrutia, and P. O. Schmidt, Rev. Mod. Phys. 90, 045005 (2018).
  3. N. Paul, G. Bian, T. Azuma, S. Okada, and P. Indelicato, Phys. Rev. Lett. 126, 173001 (2021).
  4. B. Ohayon, G. Janka, I. Cortinovis, Z. Burkley, L. d. S. Borges, E. Depero, A. Golovizin, X. Ni, Z. Salman, A. Suter, C. Vigo, T. Prokscha, and P. Crivelli (Mu-MASS Collaboration), Phys. Rev. Lett. 128, 011802 (2022).
  5. T. Hashimoto, S. Aikawa, T. Akaishi, H. Asano, M. Bazzi, D. A. Bennett, M. Berger, D. Bosnar, A. D. Butt, C. Curceanu, W. B. Doriese, M. S. Durkin, Y. Ezoe, J. W. Fowler, H. Fujioka, J. D. Gard, C. Guaraldo, F. P. Gustafsson, C. Han, R. Hayakawa et al. (J-PARC E62 Collaboration), Phys. Rev. Lett. 128, 112503 (2022).
  6. P. D. Barnes, S. Dytman, R. A. Eisenstein, W. C. Lam, J. Miller, R. B. Sutton, D. A. Jenkins, R. J. Powers, M. Eckhause, J. R. Kane, B. L. Roberts, R. E. Welsh, A. R. Kunselman, R. P. Redwine, and R. E. Segel, Phys. Rev. Lett. 29, 1132 (1972).
  7. H. Liu, B. Ohayon, O. Shtaif, and Y. Soreq, arXiv:2502.03537.
  8. W. A. Beck, L. Wilets, and M. A. Alberg, Phys. Rev. A 48, 2779 (1993).
  9. M. Hori, A. Sótér, D. Barna, A. Dax, R. S. Hayano et al., Nature (London) 475, 484 (2011).
  10. G. Baptista, S. Rathi, M. Roosa, Q. Senetaire, J. Sommerfeldt, T. Azuma, D. Becker, F. Butin, O. Eizenberg, J. Fowler, H. Fujioka, D. Gamba, N. Garroum, M. Guerra, T. Hashimoto, T. Higuchi, P. Indelicato, J. Machado, K. Morgan, F. Nez et al., arXiv:2501.08893.
  11. S. Wycech, J. Skalski, R. Smolańczuk, J. Dobaczewski, and J. R. Rook, Phys. Rev. C 54, 1832 (1996).
  12. A. Trzcińska, J. Jastrzȩbski, P. Lubiński, F. J. Hartmann, R. Schmidt, T. von Egidy, and B. Kłos, Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 082501 (2001).
  13. E. Friedman and A. Gal, Nucl. Phys. A 658, 345 (1999).
  14. A. Gal, E. Friedman, and C. Batty, Phys. Lett. B 491, 219 (2000).
  15. C. Batty, E. Friedman, and A. Gal, Nucl. Phys. A 689, 721 (2001).
  16. A. Bamberger, U. Lynen, H. Piekarz, J. Piekarz, B. Povh, H. Ritter, G. Backenstoss, T. Bunaciu, J. Egger, W. Hamilton, and H. Koch, Phys. Lett. B 33, 233 (1970).
  17. M. Doser, Prog. Part. Nucl. Phys. 125, 103964 (2022).
  18. C. J. Batty, Antiprotonic atoms, in Antiproton-Nucleon and Antiproton-Nucleus Interactions, edited by F. Bradamante, J.-M. Richard, and R. Klapisch (Springer US, Boston, 1990), pp. 251–278.
  19. G. Backenstoss, Contemp. Phys. 30, 433 (1989).
  20. B. Kłos, S. Wycech, A. Trzcińska, J. Jastrzębski, T. Czosnyka, M. Kisieliński, P. Lubiński, P. Napiorkowski, L. Pieńkowski, F. J. Hartmann, B. Ketzer, R. Schmidt, T. von Egidy, J. Cugnon, K. Gulda, W. Kurcewicz, and E. Widmann, Phys. Rev. C 69, 044311 (2004).
  21. A. Sótér, H. Aghai-Khozani, D. Barna, A. Dax, L. Venturelli, and M. Hori, Nature (London) 603, 411 (2022).
  22. T. Aumann, W. Bartmann, O. Boine-Frankenheim, A. Bouvard, A. Broche, F. Butin, D. Calvet, J. Carbonell, P. Chiggiato, H. De Gersem, R. De Oliveira, T. Dobers, F. Ehm, J. F. Somoza, J. Fischer, M. Fraser, E. Friedrich, A. Frotscher, M. Gomez-Ramos, J.-L. Grenard et al., Eur. Phys. J. A 58, 88 (2022).
  23. R. Caravita, Long-term outlook for the AEgIS experimental program, CERN Technical Report No. CERN-SPSC-2025-014, 2025 (unpublished).
  24. R. Schmidt, F. J. Hartmann, T. von Egidy, T. Czosnyka, J. Iwanicki, J. Jastrzȩbski, M. Kisieliński, P. Lubiński, P. Napiorkowski, L. Pieńkowski, A. Trzcińska, J. Kulpa, R. Smolańczuk, S. Wycech, B. Kłos, K. Gulda, W. Kurcewicz, and E. Widmann, Phys. Rev. C 58, 3195 (1998).
  25. G. Royer and R. Rousseau, Eur. Phys. J. A 42, 541 (2009).
  26. W. Kanert, F. J. Hartmann, H. Daniel, E. Moser, G. Schmidt, T. von Egidy, J. J. Reidy, M. Nicholas, M. Leon, H. Poth, G. Büche, A. D. Hancock, H. Koch, T. Köhler, A. Kreissl, U. Raich, D. Rohmann, M. Chardalas, S. Dedoussis, M. Suffert et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 56, 2368 (1986).
  27. A. Trzcińska, J. Jastrzębski, T. Czosnyka, T. von Egidy, K. Gulda, F. Hartmann, J. Iwanicki, B. Ketzer, M. Kisieliński, B. Kłos, W. Kurcewicz, P. Lubiński, P. Napiorkowski, L. Pieńkowski, R. Schmidt, and E. Widmann, Nucl. Phys. A 692, 176 (2001).
  28. C. Batty, E. Friedman, and A. Gal, Phys. Rep. 287, 385 (1997).
  29. H. Yukawa, Proc. Phys.-Math. Soc. Jpn. 3rd Ser. 17, 48 (1935).
  30. H. Poth, R. Abela, G. Backenstoss, P. Blüm, W. Fetscher, R. Hagelberg, M. Izycki, H. Koch, A. Nilsson, P. Pavlopoulos, L. Simons, and L. Tauscher, Phys. Lett. B 76, 523 (1978).
  31. A. Kreissl, A. D. Hancock, H. Koch, T. Köhler, H. Poth, U. Raich, D. Rohmann, a. Wolf, L. Tauscher, A. Nilsson, M. Suffert, M. Chardalas, S. Dedoussis, H. Daniel, T. von Egidy, F. J. Hartmann, W. Kanert, H. Plendl, G. Schmidt, and J. J. Reidy, Z. Phys. C: Part. Fields 37, 557 (1988).
  32. F. J. Hartmann, R. Schmidt, B. Ketzer, T. von Egidy, S. Wycech, R. Smolańczuk, T. Czosnyka, J. Jastrzȩbski, M. Kisieliński, P. Lubiński, P. Napiorkowski, L. Pieńkowski, A. Trzcińska, B. Kłos, K. Gulda, W. Kurcewicz, and E. Widmann, Phys. Rev. C 65, 014306 (2001).
  33. D. Gotta, K. Rashid, B. Fricke, P. Indelicato, and L. Simons, Eur. Phys. J. D 47, 11 (2008).
  34. P. Roberson, T. King, R. Kunselman, J. Miller, R. J. Powers, P. D. Barnes, R. A. Eisenstein, R. B. Sutton, W. C. Lam, C. R. Cox, M. Eckhause, J. R. Kane, A. M. Rushton, W. F. Vulcan, and R. E. Welsh, Phys. Rev. C 16, 1945 (1977).
  35. H. Pilkuhn and H. G. Schlaile, Phys. Rev. A 27, 657 (1983).
  36. A. Veitia and K. Pachucki, Phys. Rev. A 69, 042501 (2004).
  37. J. Zatorski, V. Patkóš, and K. Pachucki, Phys. Rev. A 106, 042804 (2022).
  38. V. Patkóš, V. A. Yerokhin, and K. Pachucki, Phys. Rev. A 109, 022819 (2024).
  39. V. I. Korobov and D. D. Bakalov, Phys. Rev. Lett. 79, 3379 (1997).
  40. V. Patkóš and K. Pachucki, Phys. Rev. A 110, 022813 (2024).
  41. R. Bacher, P. Blüm, D. Gotta, K. Heitlinger, M. Schneider, J. Missimer, L. M. Simons, and K. Elsener, Phys. Rev. A 38, 4395 (1988).
  42. M. Leon, Phys. Lett. B 53, 141 (1974).
  43. C. Batty, S. Biagi, M. Blecher, R. Kunselman, R. Riddle, B. Roberts, J. Davies, G. Pyle, G. Squier, D. Asbury, and M. Leon, Nucl. Phys. A 296, 361 (1978).
  44. M. Leon, J. Bradbury, P. Gram, R. Hutson, M. Schillaci, C. Hargrove, and J. Reidy, Nucl. Phys. A 322, 397 (1979).
  45. J. J. Reidy, M. Nicholas, J. N. Bradbury, P. A. M. Gram, R. L. Hutson, M. Leon, M. E. Schillaci, F. J. Hartmann, and A. R. Kunselman, Phys. Rev. C 32, 1646 (1985).
  46. S. Wycech, G. Liu, and A. Green, Phys. Lett. B 252, 27 (1990).
  47. S. Wycech, F. Hartmann, H. Daniel, W. Kanert, H. Plendl, T. von Egidy, J. Reidy, M. Nicholas, L. Redmond, H. Koch, A. Kreissl, H. Poth, and D. Rohmann, Nucl. Phys. A 561, 607 (1993).
  48. F. P. Gustafsson, D. Pęcak, and T. Sowiński, Phys. Rev. C 109, 064320 (2024).
  49. D. Andrae, Phys. Rep. 336, 413 (2000).
  50. B. Hu, W. Jiang, T. Miyagi, Z. Sun, A. Ekström, C. Forssén, G. Hagen, J. D. Holt, T. Papenbrock, S. R. Stroberg, and I. Vernon, Nat. Phys. 18, 1196 (2022).
  51. Th. Köhler, P. Blüm, G. Büche, A. Hancock, H. Koch, A. Kreissl, H. Poth, U. Raich, D. Rohmann, G. Backenstoss, C. Findeisen, J. Repond, L. Tauscher, A. Nilsson, S. Carius, M. Suffert, S. Charalambus, M. Chardalas, S. Dedoussis, H. Daniel et al., Phys. Lett. B 176, 327 (1986).
  52. C. Batty, Nucl. Phys. A 372, 418 (1981).
  53. G. Kalbermann, E. Friedman, A. Gal, and C. Batty, Nucl. Phys. A 503, 632 (1989).
  54. B. Kłos, A. Trzcińska, J. Jastrzębski, T. Czosnyka, M. Kisieliński, P. Lubiński, P. Napiorkowski, L. Pieńkowski, F. J. Hartmann, B. Ketzer, P. Ring, R. Schmidt, T. v. Egidy, R. Smolańczuk, S. Wycech, K. Gulda, W. Kurcewicz, E. Widmann, and B. A. Brown, Phys. Rev. C 76, 014311 (2007).
  55. A. Schmidt, T. Gaitanos, A. Obertelli, and J. L. Rodríguez-Sánchez, Eur. Phys. J. A 60, 55 (2024).
  56. F. P. Gustafsson, D. Pȩcak, and T. Sowiński, Data for “Stability conditions for bound states in antiprotonic atoms”, [Data set], Zenodo (2025), doi: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15386788.

Outline

Information

Phys. Rev. C 112, 015207– Published 17 July, 2025
  • Received 5 March 2025
  • Revised 30 May 2025
  • Accepted 18 June 2025
Crossmark - Check for updates button
Creative Commons Logo

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI. Open access publication funded by CERN.

Published by the American Physical Society

Sign In to Your Journals Account

Filter

Filter

Article Lookup

Enter a citation