Why does the long-lived kaon only rarely decay to two pions?

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SUMMARY

The long-lived kaon (KL) decays predominantly into three pions rather than two due to the effects of CP violation in the weak interaction. Although CP violation is present, it is relatively small, leading to a rarity in decays that conserve CP symmetry. The limited phase space available for the three-pion decay, due to the mass constraints, further contributes to the observed decay patterns. Consequently, the decay into two pions is less frequent compared to the short-lived kaons (KS), which exhibit different decay characteristics.

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Gene Naden
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The weak interaction doesn't conserve CP, so it shouldn't care whether there are two neutral pions in the decay product or three. And the three-pion decay is slowed down by the lack of phase space since there is little mass in excess of that of three pions. So why don't we see more decays into two pions (like we do with the short-lived kaons)? Thanks.
 
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CP violation of the weak interaction is small. It is not conserved exactly, but CP violating decays are still rare.
 
Thank you for your quick and helpful response.
 

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