Underthreshold resonances in three-particle molecular systems

To determine the lifetimes of Efimov states of negative two-atomic ions, the problem of resonance scattering of a light particle on a pair of identical particles has been considered. An analytic expression has been obtained for resonance widths in the limit of forces of zero radius and low binding energies in pairs. Calculations are compared with the numerical solution of the Faddeev integral equations in a wide region of masses of the light particle. It is shown that the widths of underthreshold resonances in the scattering amplitude obtained from the integral equations with the Yamaguchi potential are well described by the analytic expression, which allows this expression to be used in the mass region inaccessible for numerical calculations. It has been concluded that the lifetime of highly excited negative molecular ions with a binding energy close to the threshold of disintegration is practically unlimited.Comment: Latex, 15 page