Selected Topics in Quark-Hadron Physics: From Scalar Nonets to Topological Glueballs

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent advances in scalar mesons and glueballs, proposing a new classification, analyzing production in heavy-ion collisions, and modeling glueballs as topological solitons with predictions aligned to data.

Contribution

It introduces a novel classification of scalar nonets, models glueballs as topological solitons, and offers a unified framework consistent with experimental and lattice results.

Findings

Proposes $f_0(980)$ and $a_0(980)$ as lowest scalar nonet states.

Identifies $f_0(1500)$ as a primary glueball candidate.

Models glueballs as topological solitons with spectra matching lattice QCD.

Abstract

This contribution reviews recent progress in the low-lying scalar mesons and glueballs. We propose a new classification for the scalar nonet that includes $f_0(980)$ and $a_0(980)$ as the lowest states, while we identify $f_0(1500)$ as a primary glueball candidate. We demonstrate that the production yields of these states in heavy-ion collisions are mutually consistent across statistical, coalescence, and S-matrix frameworks. To investigate their internal structure, we move beyond standard phenomenology by describing glueballs as topological solitons. This approach yields an energy spectrum in excellent agreement with lattice QCD and experimental data, while interpreting $f_0(2470)$ as a tightly bound glueballonium to explain its anomalously long lifetime. This non-perturbative framework provides a predictive basis for the future experimental verification of exotic scalar states.