Meson decays by flux-tube breaking

Abstract

We have examined meson decays in a model with chromoelectric flux-tube breaking motivated by the strong-coupling limit of QCD. Our analysis includes all of the simple decay modes of mesons with up to two units of orbital or one unit of radial excitation, as well as a number of other interesting modes and higher-mass resonances. In conjunction with the wave functions of a relativized version of the quark model, our calculations provide, in terms of a single elementary flux-tube-breaking amplitude, predictions for meson decay amplitudes which are in excellent correspondence to experiment. The model also (1) leads to an understanding of the relevance and success of the ${}_{}{}^3{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{P}_0^{}{}_{}{}^{}$ model, (2) provides predictions for channels in which it should be possible to see many of the missing low-lying mesons of the quark model, (3) points toward solutions to some puzzles in meson phenomenology, and (4) promises to be a useful tool for understanding the properties of unconventional mesons, especially meson hybrids.