Abstract
A broad ( approximately 25 eV FWHM) spectrum has been observed in the M45-N23N45 Auger energy region of metallic cadmium. The spectrum shows that the one-electron picture of a 4p hole in the final double-hole state breaks down completely because of strong dynamical giant Coster-Kronig 4p-1 4d-1 to or from 4d-3 epsilon f fluctuation and decay processes. The spectrum is compared with the theoretical atomic spectrum calculated by diagrammatic many-body theory. There is excellent agreement. The influence of the many-electron interactions on the M45-N1N45 and M45-N23N23 Auger spectra is discussed.