STRANGENESS DEPENDENCE IN RADIATIVE HYPERON DECAY AMPLITUDES

The radiative decays of the 3/2(+) baryons are studied in the three fl avor generalization of the Skyrme model. The kaon fields are treated i n the slow rotator approach which properly accounts for the observed d eviations from the U-spin relations for the hyperon magnetic moments. This makes possible a critical discussion of the U-spin selection rule s for the radiative hyperon decays. The variation of the decay widths with strangeness is studied and a comparison with other treatments of the SU(3) Skyrme model is performed in order to analyze the effects of flavor symmetry breaking. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.