Search for New Hadronic Decays of $h_c$ and Observation of $h_c\rightarrow K^{+}K^{-}\pi^{+}\pi^{-}\pi^{0}$

TL;DR

This study investigates multiple hadronic decay modes of the $h_c$ particle, reports the first observation of $h_c ightarrow K^{+}K^{-} ho^{+} ho^{-} ho^{0}$, and measures their branching fractions using a large data sample from BESIII.

Contribution

First observation of the decay $h_c ightarrow K^{+}K^{-} ho^{+} ho^{-} ho^{0}$ and measurement of several $h_c$ hadronic decay branching fractions.

Findings

First observation of $h_c ightarrow K^{+}K^{-} ho^{+} ho^{-} ho^{0}$ with 6.0$\sigma$ significance.

Evidence for $h_c ightarrow ho^{+} ho^{-} ho^{0}$ and $K^{0}_{S}K^{ mootnotesize ext{±}} ho^{ mootnotesize ext{∓}} ho^{0}$ decays.

Branching fractions measured for multiple decay channels, with some upper limits established.

Abstract

Ten hadronic final states of the $h_c$ decays are investigated via the process $\psi(3686)\rightarrow \pi^0 h_c$, using a data sample of $(448.1 \pm 2.9) \times 10^6$ $\psi(3686)$ events collected with the BESIII detector. The decay channel $h_c\rightarrow K^{+}K^{-}\pi^{+}\pi^{-}\pi^{0}$ is observed for the first time with a significance of $6.0 \sigma$. The corresponding branching fraction is determined to be $\mathcal{B}(h_c\rightarrow K^{+}K^{-}\pi^{+}\pi^{-}\pi^{0}) =(3.3 \pm 0.6 \pm 0.6)\times 10^{-3}$ (the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematical). Evidence for the decays $h_c\rightarrow \pi^{+} \pi^{-} \pi^{0} \eta$ and $h_c\rightarrow K^{0}_{S}K^{\pm}\pi^{\mp}\pi^{+}\pi^{-}$ is found with a significance of $3.6 \sigma$ and $3.8 \sigma$, respectively. The corresponding branching fractions (and upper limits) are obtained to be $\mathcal{B}(h_c\rightarrow \pi^{+} \pi^{-} \pi^{0} \eta ) =(7.2 \pm 1.8 \pm 1.3)\times 10^{-3}$ $(< 1.8 \times 10^{-2})$ and $\mathcal{B}(h_c\rightarrow K^{0}_{S}K^{\pm}\pi^{\mp}\pi^{+}\pi^{-}) =(2.8 \pm 0.9 \pm 0.5)\times 10^{-3}$ $(<4.7\times 10^{-3})$. Upper limits on the branching fractions for the final states $h_c \rightarrow K^{+}K^{-}\pi^{0}$, $K^{+}K^{-}\eta$, $K^{+}K^{-}\pi^{+}\pi^{-}\eta$, $2(K^{+}K^{-})\pi^{0}$, $K^{+}K^{-}\pi^{0}\eta$, $K^{0}_{S}K^{\pm}\pi^{\mp}$, and $p\bar{p}\pi^{0}\pi^{0}$ are determined at a confidence level of 90\%.