High-Spin Baryons. IV. Decay Modes and Possible Regularities

Effective coupling constants for decays of the type baryon {→} baryon plus pseudoscalar meson are derived from experiment. In the absence of a reliable theory of the structure (barrier-penetration factor), we are unable to attribute an intrinsic meaning to these couplings. However, for the pion-nucleon system we tentatively suggest the existence of several approximate rules. With appropriate definitions of the couplings, these are as follows: (1) The πBB coupling is independent of the baryon B; (2) decays down a trajectory have a strength independent of trajectory type and rung on the trajectory; (3) a scaling law holds for decays from one trajectory to another. An interesting result of this law, which is independent of the barrier factor, is that the decay N₂(1688)→Δ₁(1238)π is strongly inhibited relative to other p-wave decays. In the Appendix a simple derivation is given of the most general expression for the decay of an arbitrary-spin baryon into a spin-3/2 final baryon and a spin-zero meson.