Axial meson exchange and the Zc (3900) and Zcs (3985) resonances as heavy hadron molecules

Early speculations about the existence of heavy hadron molecules were grounded on the idea that light-meson exchange forces could lead to binding. In analogy to the deuteron, the light mesons usually considered include the pion, sigma, rho and omega, but not the axial meson a(1) (1260). Though it has been argued in the past that the coupling of the axial meson to the nucleons is indeed strong, its mass is considerably heavier than that of the vector mesons and thus its exchange ends up being suppressed. Yet, this is not necessarily the case in heavy hadrons molecules; we find that even though the contribution to binding from the axial meson is modest, it cannot be neglected in the isovector sector where vector meson exchange cancels out. This might provide a natural binding mechanism for molecular candidates such as the Z(c) (3900), Z(c) (4020), or the more recently observed Z(cs) (3985). However, the Z(cs) (3985) is more dependent on a mixture of different factors, which (besides axial meson exchange) include eta exchange and the nature of scalar meson exchange. Together they point towards the existence of two Z(cs) (3985)-like resonances instead of one, while the observations about the role of scalar meson exchange in the Z(cs) (3985) might be relevant for the P-cs (4459). Finally, the combination of axial meson exchange and flavor-symmetry breaking effects indicates that the isovector J(PC) = 0(++ )D*(D) over bar* and the strange J(P) = 2(+) D*(D) over bar*(s) molecules are the most attractive configurations and thus the most likely molecular partners of the Z(c) (3900), Z(c) (4020), and Z(cs) (3985).

Automated summary

Early speculations on heavy hadron molecules were based on the potential binding from light-meson exchange forces, with particular attention to the role of the axial meson. While the contribution to binding from the axial meson is modest, it cannot be neglected especially in the isovector sector where vector meson exchange cancels out, pointing towards the potential existence of two Z(cs) (3985)-like resonances.