Anatomy of three-body decay II. Decay mechanism and resonance structure

We use the hyperspherical adiabatic expansion method to discuss the the two mechanisms of sequential and direct three-body decay. Both short-range and Coulomb interactions are included. Resonances are assumed initially populated by a process independent of the subsequent decay. The lowest adiabatic potentials describe the resonances rather accurately at distances smaller than the outer turning point of the confining barrier. We illustrate with realistic examples of nuclei from neutron ($^{6}$He) and proton ($^{17}$Ne) driplines as well as excited states of beta-stable nuclei ($^{12}$C).