Hadronic molecules with a ${\bar{D}}$ meson in a medium

TL;DR

This paper investigates how hot and dense media influence the binding energies of hadronic molecules with open-charm mesons, revealing conditions where medium effects enhance molecular binding, with implications for experimental searches.

Contribution

It introduces a model to analyze medium modifications of hadronic molecules with open-charm mesons using a chiral quark model and Nambu--Jona-Lasinio predictions, highlighting potential binding enhancements.

Findings

Medium can enhance molecular binding energies.

Quark and meson mass modifications affect hadron-hadron interactions.

Results inform experimental searches in heavy-ion collisions and future facilities.

Abstract

We study the effect of a hot and dense medium on the binding energy of hadronic molecules with open-charm mesons. We focus on a recent chiral quark-model-based prediction of a molecular state in the $N \bar D$ system. We analyze how the two-body thresholds and the hadron-hadron interactions are modified when quark and meson masses and quark-meson couplings change in a function of the temperature and baryon density according to predictions of the Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model. We find that in some cases the molecular binding is enhanced in medium as compared to their free-space binding. We discuss the consequences of our findings for the search for exotic hadrons in high-energy heavy-ion collisions as well as in the forthcoming facilities FAIR or J-PARC.