The QCD Dynamics of Tetraquark Production

TL;DR

This paper uses twist operator dimensions to analyze the structure of exotic heavy-quark tetraquarks, predicting how their production cross sections vary with energy to distinguish their internal configurations.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach using twist dimensions to determine the structure of tetraquarks and proposes experimental methods for producing exotic multiquark states.

Findings

Predicts distinctive energy dependence of cross sections for different tetraquark structures

Provides criteria to distinguish between molecular and compact tetraquark configurations

Suggests experimental strategies for discovering new exotic multiquark states

Abstract

We use the twist dimensions of the operators underlying the dynamical behavior of exclusive production processes as a tool for determining the structure of exotic heavy-quark states such as the $Z_c^+(4430)$ tetraquark. The resulting counting rules predict distinctive fall-offs of the cross sections in center-of-mass energy, thus distinguishing whether the tetraquarks are segregated into di-meson molecules, diquark-antidiquark pairs, or more democratically arranged four-quark states. In addition, we propose straightforward methods of experimentally producing additional exotic multiquark states.