Improved measurements of two-photon widths of the $\chi_{cJ}$ states and helicity analysis for $\chi_{c2}\to\gamma\gamma$

TL;DR

This paper reports precise measurements of the two-photon decay widths of the $oldsymbol{ ext{chi}}_{cJ}$ states, including branching fractions and helicity analysis, using a large data sample from BESIII, providing insights into charmonium decay dynamics.

Contribution

The study provides the most accurate measurements to date of the two-photon widths of $ ext{chi}_{c0}$ and $ ext{chi}_{c2}$ states and introduces a helicity analysis for $ ext{chi}_{c2} o ext{gamma} ext{gamma}$ decays.

Findings

Measured $ ext{chi}_{c0}$ and $ ext{chi}_{c2}$ two-photon widths with improved precision.

Set an upper limit on the $ ext{chi}_{c1} o ext{gamma} ext{gamma}$ decay width.

Determined the helicity-zero to helicity-two ratio in $ ext{chi}_{c2} o ext{gamma} ext{gamma}$ decay.

Abstract

Based on $448.1 \times 10^6$ $\psi(3686)$ events collected with the BESIII detector, the decays $\psi(3686)\to\gamma\chi_{cJ}, \chi_{cJ} \to \gamma\gamma~(J=0, 1, 2)$ are studied. The decay branching fractions of $\chi_{c0,c2} \to \gamma\gamma$ are measured to be $\mathcal{B}(\chi_{c0}\to\gamma\gamma) = (1.93 \pm 0.08 \pm 0.05 \pm 0.05)\times 10^{-4}$ and $\mathcal{B}(\chi_{c2}\to\gamma\gamma) = (3.10 \pm 0.09 \pm 0.07 \pm 0.11)\times 10^{-4} $, which correspond to two-photon decay widths of $\Gamma_{\gamma\gamma}(\chi_{c0}) = 2.03 \pm 0.08 \pm 0.06 \pm 0.13 ~\rm{keV}$ and $\Gamma_{\gamma\gamma}(\chi_{c2}) = 0.60 \pm 0.02 \pm 0.01 \pm 0.04 ~\rm{keV}$ with a ratio of $\mathcal{R}=\Gamma_{\gamma\gamma}(\chi_{c2})/\Gamma_{\gamma\gamma}(\chi_{c0})= 0.295 \pm 0.014 \pm 0.007 \pm 0.027$, where the uncertainties are statistical, systematic and associated with the uncertainties of $\mathcal{B}(\psi(3686)\to\gamma\chi_{c0,c2})$ and the total widths $\Gamma(\chi_{c0,c2})$, respectively. For the forbidden decay of $\chi_{c1}\to\gamma\gamma$, no signal is observed, and an upper limit on the two-photon width is obtained to be $\Gamma_{\gamma\gamma}(\chi_{c1})<5.3 ~\rm{eV}$ at the 90\% confidence level. The ratio of the two-photon widths between helicity-zero and helicity-two components in the decay $\chi_{c2}\to\gamma\gamma$ is also measured to be $f_{0/2} = \Gamma^{\lambda=0}_{\gamma\gamma}(\chi_{c2})/\Gamma^{\lambda=2}_{\gamma\gamma}(\chi_{c2}) = (0.0 \pm 0.6 \pm 1.2)\times 10^{-2}$, where the uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively.