Excited vector mesons: phenomenology and predictions for a yet unknown vector ss state with a mass of about 1.93 GeV

¹ Institute of Physics, Jan Kochanowski University, ul. Swietokrzyska 15, 25-406, Kielce, Poland.
² Institute for Theoretical Physics, J. W. Goethe University, Max-von-Laue-Str. 1, 60438 Frankfurt, Germany.

^a e-mail: milena.soltysiak@op.pl

Published online: 3 August 2018

Abstract

The firm understanding of standard quark-antiquark states (including excited states) is necessary to search for non-conventional mesons with the same quantum numbers. In this work, we study the phenomenology of two nonets of excited vector mesons, which predominantly correspond to radially excited vector mesons with quantum numbers n^2S+1L_J = 2³S₁ and to orbitally excited vector mesons with quantum numbers n^2S+1L_J = 1³D¹. We evaluate the decays of these mesons into two pseudoscalar mesons and into a pseudoscalar and a ground-state vector meson by making use of a relativistic quantum field theoretical model based on flavor symmetry. Moreover, we also study the radiative decays into a photon and a pseudoscalar meson by using vector meson dominance. We compare our results to the PDG and comment on open issues concerning the corresponding measured resonances. Within our approach, we are also able to make predictions for a not-yet discovered ss state in the n^2S+1L_J = 1³D₁ nonet, which has a mass of about 1.93 GeV. This resonance can be searched in the upcoming GlueX and CLAS12 experiments which take place at the Jefferson Lab.