A Superdecay of an excited atom placed near ''Left-Handed'' sphere

The influence of a microsphere having a simultaneously negative permittivity and permeability (Left-Handed Sphere) on the decay rate of the allowed and forbidden transitions is considered. It is found, that in contrast to usual (Right-Handed) materials it is possible to increase the decay rate by several orders of magnitude even in the case of a sphere of small radii. This enhancement is due to the fact that there exist a new type of resonance modes (LH surface modes). The analytical expressions for resonance frequencies and associated quality factors of the new modes are found.