A Possible Interpretation of -Particles in the Framework of Three-Quartet Model

Abstract

Phenomenological analyses indicate that decay modes of ψ-particles are classified into two categories. Decay processes of the type ψ_i→leptons, hadrons proceed with an effective coupling constant of order e². On the other hand decay processes of the type ψ₂→ψ₁+hadron(s) proceed with an effective coupling constant larger than e. In the framework of the three-quartet model ψ-particles are assigned to SU'(3) octet (I'=1) mesons with the SU(4) configurations: ψ(3.1)∼(pp+nn)/√2, ψ(3.7)∼λλ and ψ(4.1)→p_cp_c. Then hadronic decays for the first type of processes are strictly prohibited at least up to order e² by the conservation law of color isospin I'. On the other hand, the second type of processes and radiative decays of the first type are moderately suppressed due to various kinds of natural dynamical effects such as the Okubo-Iizuka-Zweig ansatz and the overlapping of internal wave functions. An alternative approach is also discussed briefly on the basis of a model of a new family of strongly interacting particles.