Excited states of hypernuclei

The present status of theoretical and experimental investigations of excited states of hypernuclei is reviewed. Topics considered are the mechanism of formation of hypernuclei in the (K -, π-) reaction, the influence of the kinematic conditions on the nature of the excitations, and the main features of the cross sections for production of hypernuclei at small momentum transfers. The hyperon--nucleus and residual ΛN interactions are analyzed in a model of particle--hole excitations and in the many-particle shell model. The status of the weak-coupling model is discussed. The properties of the low-lying levels of light Λ hypernuclei are considered. Various approaches to the description of the structure of strangeness analog states are presented. Strong decays of Λ hypernuclei and the associated nucleon--association effects are considered. The problem of summationΛ conversion of summation hypernuclei is discussed