Hadronic Molecules and the f0(980)/a0(980)

TL;DR

This paper explores the interpretation of the f0(980) and a0(980) mesons as hadronic molecules, using a phenomenological model to calculate their decay processes and compare with experimental data.

Contribution

It introduces a covariant, gauge-invariant model for hadronic molecules that accounts for finite size effects and aligns well with observed decay data.

Findings

Model results agree with experimental decay widths

Finite size effects are significant in decay calculations

Supports the hadronic molecule interpretation of f0(980) and a0(980)

Abstract

We discuss a possible interpretation of the f0(980) and a0(980) mesons as hadronic molecules - bound states of K and Kbar mesons. Using a phenomenological Lagrangian approach we calculate the strong f0(980) to pi pi and a0(980) to pi eta as well as the electromagnetic f0(980) to gamma gamma and a0(980) to gamma gamma decays. The covariant and gauge invariant model, which also allows for finite size effects of the hadronic molecule, delivers results in good agreement with available data and results of other theoretical approaches.