The Gamow and the Fermi Golden Rules

Abstract

By using the fact that the Gamow states in the momentum representation are square integrable, we obtain the differential and the total decay width of a two-body, non-relativistic decay. The resulting Gamow Golden Rule is well suited to describe both energy and angular decay distributions, and it becomes the Fermi Golden Rule when the resonance is long-lived and far from the energy threshold. We also show that the correct density of states and phase space factors arise naturally from the Gamow Golden Rule. The upshot is that the Gamow states and the Golden Rule can be combined into a unified description of quantum resonances.