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Radiative Transitions in Heavy Mesons in a Relativistic Quark Model

The radiative decays of $D^*$, $B^*$, and other excited heavy mesons are analyzed in a relativistic quark model for the light degrees of freedom and in the limit of heavy quark spin-flavor symmetry. The analysis of strong decays carried out in the corresponding chiral quark model is used to calculate the strong decays and determine the branching ratios of the radiative $D^*$ decays. Consistency with the observed branching ratios requires the inclusion of the heavy quark component of the electromagnetic current and the introduction of an anomalous magnetic moment for the light quark. It is observed that not only $D$, but also $B$ meson transitions within a heavy quark spin multiplet are affected by the presence of the heavy quark current.