ASYMPTOTIC ESTIMATES OF THE DECAY WIDTHS OF QUASI-STATIONARY STATES

A new integral formalism for calculating the decay widths of quasistat ionary states is constructed without recourse to the assumption that a barrier-penetrability factor is small. The method of steepest descent is used to obtain asymptotic expressions for the widths of short-live d quasistationary states. On the basis of these expressions, the width s of Pb nuclei and of baryon and dibaryon resonances are calculated wi thin a unified approach. The theory is shown to be in fairly goad agre ement with experimental data. A natural explanation is given for the s mallness of the widths of low-lying resonances.