Deciphering the mechanism of near-threshold $$J/\psi $$ photoproduction
Meng-Lin Du, Vadim Baru, Feng-Kun Guo, Christoph Hanhart, Ulf-G. Meißner, Alexey Nefediev, Igor Strakovsky
Abstract
Abstract The photoproduction of the $$J/\psi $$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>J</mml:mi> <mml:mo>/</mml:mo> <mml:mi>ψ</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> off the proton is believed to deepen our understanding of various physics issues. On the one hand, it is proposed to provide access to the origin of the proton mass, based on the QCD multipole expansion. On the other hand, it can be employed in a study of pentaquark states. The process is usually assumed to proceed through vector-meson dominance, that is the photon couples to a $$J/\psi $$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>J</mml:mi> <mml:mo>/</mml:mo> <mml:mi>ψ</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> which rescatters with the proton to give the $$J/\psi p$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>J</mml:mi> <mml:mo>/</mml:mo> <mml:mi>ψ</mml:mi> <mml:mi>p</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> final state. In this paper, we provide a compelling hint for and propose measurements necessary to confirm a novel production mechanism via the $$\varLambda _c \bar{D}^{(*)}$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>Λ</mml:mi> <mml:mi>c</mml:mi> </mml:msub> <mml:msup> <mml:mrow> <mml:mover> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>D</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>¯</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:mover> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>(</mml:mo> <mml:mrow/> <mml:mo>∗</mml:mo> <mml:mo>)</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:msup> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> intermediate states. In particular, there must be cusp structures at the $$\varLambda _c \bar{D}^{(*)}$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>Λ</mml:mi> <mml:mi>c</mml:mi> </mml:msub> <mml:msup> <mml:mrow> <mml:mover> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>D</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>¯</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:mover> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>(</mml:mo> <mml:mrow/> <mml:mo>∗</mml:mo> <mml:mo>)</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:msup> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> thresholds in the energy dependence of the $$J/\psi $$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>J</mml:mi> <mml:mo>/</mml:mo> <mml:mi>ψ</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> photoproduction cross section. The same mechanism also implies the $$J/\psi $$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>J</mml:mi> <mml:mo>/</mml:mo> <mml:mi>ψ</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> -nucleon scattering lengths of order 1 mfm. Given this, one expects only a minor contribution of charm quarks to the nucleon mass.