Abstract
Computer programs for simulating the kaonic-atom cascade process require the rates for strong-interaction absorption as well as for radiative and Auger transitions. Due to difficulties in computing the absorption rates, it has been standard practice to only approximately allow for them. In this section of the thesis, the effects of this procedure on the cascade results are investigated. As the approximate methods used heretofore are based on perturbation theory, this approximation is investigated first. A method of computing the widths to second-order in this framework is devised, but perturbation theory is still found to be inadequate. The black-sphere model is more successful, and by using extrapolation to obtain those widths which this model does not directly give, the absorption rates for all states appearing in the cascade calculation are fed in. On the way, the experimentally-observed relationship between the strong-interaction shift and the width in kaonic atoms is theoretically justified. The X-ray intensities from the cascade calculation are found to be negligibly improved by the comprehensive treatment of absorption. It is found that comparing absolute experimental and theoretical intensities is less successful than comparing relative intensities. The conclusion is drawn that previously used methods of dealing with strong-interaction absorption are sufficiently accurate.