Disentangling the hadronic molecule nature of the $P_c(4380)$ pentaquark-like structure

TL;DR

This paper investigates the internal structure of the $P_c(4380)$ pentaquark-like state, proposing that its decay patterns favor a $ar{D} \Sigma_c^*$ molecular interpretation over other models, and suggests experimental searches to clarify its nature.

Contribution

The study provides a decay pattern analysis that distinguishes between $ar{D} \Sigma_c^*$ and $ar{D}^* \Sigma_c$ molecular states, favoring the former as the explanation for $P_c(4380)$.

Findings

The decay ratio patterns differ significantly between the two molecular hypotheses.

The $ar{D} \\Sigma_c^*$ molecule better explains the broad $P_c(4380)$ structure.

Searches in the $ar{D}^* \\Lambda_c^+$ system are recommended to determine the state’s nature.

Abstract

We demonstrate that the relative ratio of the decays of hidden charm pentaquark-like structure $P^+_c(4380)$ to $\bar{D}^* \Lambda_c^+$ and $J/\psi p$ are very different for $P^+_c$ being $\bar{D} \Sigma_c^*(2520)$ or $\bar{D}^* \Sigma_c(2455)$ molecule states. While the partial width of the $\bar{D} \Sigma_c^*(2520)$ molecule to the $\bar{D}^* \Lambda_c^+$ is much larger, by one order of magnitude, than that to the $J/\psi p$, the $\bar{D}^* \Sigma_c(2455)$ molecule shows a different pattern. Our analysis shows that the $\bar{D} \Sigma_c^*$ bound state ansatz is more reasonable than the $\bar{D}^* \Sigma_c$ one to explain the broad $P_c(4380)$ structure. We suggest to search for the $P_c(4380)$ in the $\bar{D}^* \Lambda_c^+$ system, which can be used to disentangle the nature of the $P^+_c(4380)$ structure.