(Pseudo)Scalar Charmonium in Finite Temperature QCD

TL;DR

This study uses finite temperature QCD sum rules to analyze the behavior of pseudoscalar and scalar charmonium states, revealing their potential survival beyond the deconfinement temperature with specific temperature-dependent parameter changes.

Contribution

It provides a detailed finite temperature analysis of $ ext{η}_c$ and $ ext{χ}_c$ hadronic parameters, highlighting their stability and possible survival beyond the critical temperature, which is a novel insight.

Findings

$s_0(T)$ decreases monotonically with temperature

Hadron mass remains essentially constant up to near $T_c$

Decay constants exhibit non-monotonic behavior with temperature

Abstract

The hadronic parameters of pseudoscalar ($\eta_c$) and scalar ($\chi_c$) charmonium are determined at finite temperature from Hilbert moment QCD sum rules. These parameters are the hadron mass, leptonic decay constant, total width, and continuum threshold ($s_0$). Results for $s_0(T)$ in both channels indicate that $s_0(T)$ starts approximately constant, and then it decreases monotonically with increasing $T$ until it reaches the QCD threshold, $s_{th} = 4 m_Q^2$, at a critical temperature $T = T_c \simeq 180 \; \mbox{MeV}$ interpreted as the deconfinement temperature. The other hadronic parameters behave qualitatively similarly to those of the $J/\psi$, as determined in this same framework. The hadron mass is essentially constant, the total width is initially independent of T, and after $T/T_c \simeq 0.80$ it begins to increase with increasing $T$ up to $T/T_c \simeq 0.90 \; (0.95)$ for $\chi_c$ ($\eta_c$), and subsequently it decreases sharply up to $T \simeq 0.94 \; (0.99) \; T_c$, for $\chi_c$ ($\eta_c$), beyond which the sum rules are no longer valid. The decay constant of $\chi_c$ at first remains basically flat up to $T \simeq 0.80\; T_c$, then it starts to decrease up to $T \simeq 0.90 \;T_c$, and finally it increases sharply with increasing $T$. In the case of $\eta_c$ the decay constant does not change up to $T \simeq 0.80 \;T_c$ where it begins a gentle increase up to $T \simeq 0.95 \;T_c$ beyond which it increases dramatically with increasing $T$. This behaviour contrasts with that of light-light and heavy-light quark systems, and it suggests the survival of the $\eta_c$ and the $\chi_c$ states beyond the critical temperature, as already found for the $J/\psi$ from similar QCD sum rules. These conclusions are very stable against changes in the critical temperature in the wide range $T_c = 180 - 260 \; \mbox{MeV}$.