Deviation from the exponential decay law in relativistic quantum field theory: the example of strongly decaying particles

We show that a short-time regime, in which a deviation from the exponential decay law occurs, exists also in the framework of a superrenormalizable relativistic quantum field theory. This, in turn, implies the possibility of a quantum Zeno effect also for elementary decays. The attention is then focused on the typical order of magnitude of strong decay rates of mesons: for these particles, strong deviations from the exponential decay law are present during a period of time comparable with their mean lifetime. As a concrete example, the case of the ρ meson is studied.