Stability of asymmetric tetraquarks in the minimal-path linear potential

TL;DR

This paper investigates the stability of asymmetric tetraquark systems using a minimal-path linear potential model, demonstrating their stability at large quark-to-antiquark mass ratios through a new inequality.

Contribution

It introduces a novel inequality for the minimal flux tube length potential, proving tetraquark stability in the large mass ratio limit.

Findings

Tetraquarks are stable at large quark-to-antiquark mass ratios.

The minimal flux tube length model is rigorously extended to tetraquark systems.

A new inequality demonstrates stability within this theoretical framework.

Abstract

The linear potential binding a quark and an antiquark in mesons is generalized to baryons and multiquark configurations as the minimal length of flux tubes neutralizing the color, in units of the string tension. For tetraquark systems, i.e., two quarks and two antiquarks, this involves the two possible quark--antiquark pairings, and the Steiner tree linking the quarks to the antiquarks. A novel inequality for this potential demonstrates rigorously that within this model the tetraquark is stable in the limit of large quark-to-antiquark mass ratio.