Probing the structure of $f_0(980)$ through radiative $\phi$ decays

We consider the radiative transition $\phi \to f_0 \gamma$, which is a sensitive probe of the nature of the $f_0(980)$ particle. Using the QCD sum-rule technique, we estimate the branching ratio of such decay mode to be: ${\cal B}(\phi \to f_0 \gamma)=(2.7 \pm 1.1) ~ 10^{-4}$, in fair agreement with present experimental data. As for the structure of the $f_0$, the result suggests a sizeable $s {\bar s}$ component; however, this result does not exclude the possibility of further components and allows a more complex structure than indicated by the naive quark model.