Abstract

We calculate the semileptonic and a subclass of sixteen nonleptonic two-body decays of the double charm baryon ground states Xi(++)(cc), Xi(+)(cc) and Omega(+)(cc) where we concentrate on the nonleptonic decay modes. We identify those nonleptonic decay channels in which the decay proceeds solely via the factorizing contribution precluding a contamination from W exchange. We use the covariant confined quark model previously developed by us to calculate the various helicity amplitudes which describe the dynamics of the 1/2(+) -> 1/2(+) and 1/2(+) -> 3/2(+) transitions induced by the Cabibbo-favored effective (c -> s) and (d -> u) currents. We then proceed to calculate the rates of the decays as well as polarization effects and angular decay distributions of the prominent decay chains resulting from the nonleptonic decays of the double heavy charm baryon parent states.