Nuclear

Physics A
Nuclear Physics A 00 (2020) 1–5
www.elsevier.com/locate/procedia

XXVIIIth International Conference on Ultrarelativistic Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions

(Quark Matter 2019)

LHCb measurements of the exotic tetraquark candidate

χc1(3872) in high-multiplicity pp and pPb collisions
arXiv:2002.01551v1 [hep-ex] 4 Feb 2020

J. Matthew Durham for the LHCb collaboration

Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545 USA

Abstract
The last decade of hadron spectroscopy has unveiled a wealth of states that do not have the properties expected of
particles composed of two or three valence quarks. Among the most intriguing of these exotics is the χc1 (3872), which
various models attempt to describe as a hadronic molecule, a compact tetraquark, an unexpected charmonium state, or
their mixtures. To date, most experimental studies of the χc1 (3872) have focused on its production through B meson
decays. Heavy ion collisions, as well as high multiplicity pp collisions, offer a new window on the properties of this
poorly understood hadron. In these systems, promptly produced χc1 (3872) hadrons can interact with other particles
in the nucleus and/or those produced in the collision. The influence of these interactions on the observed χc1 (3872)
yields provides information that can help discriminate between the various models of its structure, as well as give
insight into the dynamics of the bulk particles produced in these collisions. With a full range of precision vertexing,
tracking, and particle ID capabilities covering 2 to 5 in units of rapidity, the LHCb experiment is especially well suited
to measurements of both prompt and non-prompt exotic hadrons. These proceedings present new LHCb measurements
χc1 (3872) production in high multiplicity pp collisions and pPb collisions through the decay to J/ψπ+ π− .

Keywords:

1. Introduction

Bound states of more than three valence quarks have been expected since the proposal of the quark
model of hadron structure more than 50 years ago [1, 2]. However, unambiguous evidence for these ex-
otic multiquark states has only recently become available via data from B factories and the Large Hadron
Collider (LHC). More than twenty exotic states containing pairs of heavy charm or bottom quarks have
been identified [3], none of which are predicted to exist by potential models which successfully describe the
observed conventional quarkonia states [4].
The most well-studied exotic hadron is the χc1 (3872). First discovered by the Belle experiment in 2003
[5], it has since been confirmed by multiple other experiments [6, 7, 8]. However, despite intense experi-
mental and theoretical study, the exact nature of the χc1 (3872) is not clear. Some models have described
it as a compact tetraquark [9, 10, 11], which is relatively tightly bound and has a radius of ∼1 fm. The
proximity of the χc1 (3872) mass and the sum of the D0 and D∗0 masses led to models of the χc1 (3872) as a
2 / Nuclear Physics A 00 (2020) 1–5

D0 D∗0 hadronic molecule [12, 13], with a small binding energy and, consequently, a large radius of ∼7 fm.
Mixtures of various exotic and conventional states have also been considered [14].
The dense QCD environment produced in heavy ion collisions and high-multiplicity pp collisions pro-
vides a new method for examining the properties of the χc1 (3872). In these collisions, χc1 (3872) hadrons
that are produced promptly at the collision vertex can undergo interactions with other particles produced in
the event, which can lead to breakup. The magnitude of this effect is expected to be dependent on the binding
energy of the χc1 (3872), as has been suspected for breakup of J/ψ and ψ(2S) in heavy ion collisions [15].
Therefore, measurements of prompt χc1 (3872) production in high multiplicity collisions may provide data
that can discriminate between tightly-bound tetraquark and weakly-bound hadronic molecule scenarios.

2. Measurement

The LHCb detector is a single-arm forward spectrometer covering the pseudorapidity range 2 < η√< 5,
described in detail in Ref. [16]. In this analysis, J/ψ candidates that are produced in pp collisions at s =
8 TeV are identified through their decay to µ+ µ− . These candidates are combined with opposite-sign pairs
of charged pions, and a kinematic refit of the tracks is performed which constrains the J/ψ mass to the
known value and requires all four tracks to originate from precisely the same vertex. The resulting J/ψπ+ π−
invariant mass spectrum shown in Fig. 1, where peaks corresponding to the ψ(2S) and χc1 (3872) are clearly
visible. From this invariant mass spectrum, a direct comparison between the conventional quarkonium state
ψ(2S) and the exotic χc1 (3872) can be made.
Entries/(1 MeV/c2)

10000 LHCb Preliminary

pp s = 8 TeV
Entries/(1 MeV/c 2)

9000 3800

3600
8000
3400

7000 3200

6000 3000

2800
5000 3840 3850 3860 3870 3880 3890 3900 3910

M J/ ψ π +π - [MeV/c2 ]
4000

3000

2000

1000
3650 3700 3750 3800 3850 3900 3950

M J/ ψ π + π - [MeV/c2]

Fig. 1. The J/ψπ+ π− invariant-mass spectrum. The inset shows the region of the χc1 (3872) resonance.

At the LHC, both the ψ(2S) and the χc1 (3872) can be produced promptly at the collision vertex, or in
the decays of hadrons containing b quarks. Taking advantage of the relatively long lifetime of B hadrons,
the prompt and b-decay contributions are separated via a simultaneous fit to the invariant mass and proper
time spectrum of ψ(2S) and χc1 (3872) candidates (see Ref. [17] for details). The fit returns the fraction of
inclusive hadrons that are produced promptly at the collision vertex, f prompt .
To examine the multiplicity dependence of ψ(2S) and χc1 (3872) production, the data is separated into
bins of event activity, which is quantified by the number of tracks reconstructed in the LHCb VELO detector
V ELO
Ntracks . This serves as a metric for the number of charged particles produced in the event.

3. Results

The prompt fraction f prompt of ψ(2S) and χc1 (3872) hadrons is shown in the left panel of Fig. 2. We see
that the ratio decreases with increasing charged particle multiplicity for both species, which may be due to a
combination of effects. Events in which a pair of b quarks are produced, hadronize, and decay will naturally
 f prompt / Nuclear Physics A 00 (2020) 1–5 3

σ χ (3872) BR(χ (3872)→ J/ ψ π + π -)

LHCb Preliminary pp s = 8 TeV LHCb Preliminary

σ ψ (2S) BR(ψ (2S)→ J/ ψ π + π -)

1
χ (3872)
0.12 pp s = 8 TeV
c1 Prompt
0.9 ψ(2S) 0.1
b decays
0.08
0.8
0.06

c1
0.7 0.04

p T > 5 GeV/c 0.02 p T > 5 GeV/c

0.6

c1
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200

N VELO
tracks N VELO
tracks

Fig. 2. Left: the fraction of ψ(2S) and χc1 (3872) hadrons produced promptly at the pp collision vertex. Right: the ratio of χc1 (3872)
and ψ(2S) cross sections measured in the J/ψπ+ π− channel as a function of the number of tracks reconstructed in the VELO.

have a higher multiplicity than events without b quarks, which will drive f prompt down as multiplicity in-
creases. An additional effect which may come into play is the suppression of promptly produced ψ(2S) and
χc1 (3872) hadrons, which can be disrupted through interactions with other particles produced in the event.
This will also decrease f prompt with increasing multiplicity.
To examine these prompt and b decay components separately, we calculate the ratio of cross sections
σχc1 (3872) /σψ(2S ) times the respective branching fractions to J/ψπ+ π− ,
χc1 (3872)
σχc1 (3872) B[χc1 (3872) → J/ψπ+ π− ] Nχc1 (3872) f prompt εψ(2S )
= . (1)
σψ(2S ) B[ψ(2S ) → J/ψπ+ π− ] ψ(2S )
Nψ(2S ) f prompt εχc1 (3872)

Here N is the inclusive signal yield, f prompt is the prompt fraction, and  represents the efficiency for
reconstructing and selecting the hadron of interest. This ratio is shown for both prompt and b decay pro-
duction in the right panel of Fig. 2. Here the error bars corresponds to uncertainties that are point-to-point
uncorrelated, which are dominated by the statistical uncertainties on the prompt fraction of the χc1 (3872)
sample, and the boxes are fully correlated systematic uncertainties that are dominated by the efficiency cor-
rections. We see that the ratio of prompt cross sections decreases with increasing multiplicity, as is expected
in a scenario where weakly-bound χc1 (3872) hadrons are being disrupted more than the conventional ψ(2S)
state via interactions with comoving particles. The ratio of cross sections from b decays, which are pro-
duced away from the primary collision vertex in vaccuum, does not show any significant dependence on
multiplicity. This is expected, as this ratio is set by the branching fractions of B hadron decays to ψ(2S) and
χc1 (3872), and is not affected by event activity at the primary vertex.

4. Summary and Outlook

We have found that the fraction of both ψ(2S) and χc1 (3872) which are produced√promptly at the collision
vertex decreases with increasing charged particle multiplicity in pp collisions at s = 8 TeV. The ratio of
the prompt cross sections σχc1 (3872) /σψ(2S ) also decreases with multiplicity, while the ratio of cross sections
from decays of B hadrons remains constant within uncertainties. This could indicate that promptly produced
ψ(2S) and χc1 (3872) hadrons are being broken up via interactions with other particles produced in the event.
These suppression more significantly affects the exotic χc1 (3872) than the conventional ψ(2S), which may
indicate that the χc1 (3872) has a smaller binding energy than the ψ(2S). In this case, the χc1 (3872) may be a
very weakly bound state, such as a hadronic molecule.
4 / Nuclear Physics A 00 (2020) 1–5

LHCb is also pursuing measurements of χc1 (3872) production in pPb collisions, see Fig. 3. Forthcom-
ing results on the nuclear modification factor R pPb for χc1 (3872) will provide additional constraints on the
structure of this poorly understood exotic hadron.

√
Fig. 3. The J/ψπ+ π− invariant-mass spectrum in pPb (left) and Pbp (right) collisions at sNN = 8.16 TeV.

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