| Summary: | Conflicting values of the hypertriton lifetime τ(3ΛH) were derived in relativistic heavy ion (RHI) collision experiments over the last decade. A very recent ALICE Collaboration measurement is the only experiment where the reported τ(3ΛH) comes sufficiently close to the free-Λ lifetime τΛ, as expected naively for a very weakly bound Λ in 3ΛH. We revisited theoretically this 3ΛH lifetime puzzle [1], using 3ΛH and 3He wave functions computed within the ab initio no-core shell model employing interactions derived from chiral effective field theory to calculate the two-body decay rate Γ(3ΛH → 3He + π−). We found significant but opposing contributions arising from ΣNN admixtures in 3ΛH and from π− − 3He final-state interaction. To derive τ(3ΛH), we evaluated the inclusive π− decay rate Γπ− (3ΛH) by using the measured branching ratio Γ(3ΛH → 3He + π−)/Γπ− (3ΛH) and added the π0 contributions through the ΔI = 1/2rule. The resulting τ(3ΛH) varies strongly with the rather poorly known Λ separation energy Esep(3ΛH) and it is thus possible to associate each one of the distinct RHI τ(3ΛH) measurements with its own underlying value of Esep(3ΛH).
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