Mesonic atoms from heavy-ion collisions

The cross section for creating, in high-energy heavy-ion collisions, a negatively charged meson such as ${\pi }^{\mathrm{-}}$ or $K^{\mathrm{-}}$ in the atomic orbits of the nuclear fragments is evaluated in the participant-spectator model. Its magnitude depends sensitively on the lifetime of the source. For a lifetime comparable to the collision time, the cross section is appreciable.