Abstract: The last two decades have witnessed the discovery of a myriad of new and unexpected hadrons. The future holds more surprises for us, thanks to new-generation experiments. Understanding the signals and determining the properties of the states requires a parallel theoretical effort. To make full use of available and forthcoming data, a careful amplitude modeling is required, together with a sound treatment of the statistical uncertainties, and a systematic survey of the model dependencies. We review the contributions made by the Joint Physics Analysis Center to the field of hadron spectroscopy.

Abstract: We propose that the X(3915) observed in the J/psi x channel is the same state as the chi(c2)(3930), and the X(3960), observed in the Ds+Ds- channel, is an S-wave Ds+Ds- hadronic molecule. In addition, the J(PC) = 0(++) component in the B+ -> D+D-K+ assigned to the X(3915) in the current Review of Particle Physics has the same origin as the X(3960), which has a mass around 3.94 GeV. To check the proposal, the available data in the D (D) over bar and Ds+Ds- channels from both B decays and gamma gamma fusion reaction are analyzed considering both the D (D) over bar -D-s(D) over bar (s)-D*(D) over bar*-D-s*(D) over bar (s)* coupled channels with 0(++) and a 2(++) state introduced additionally. It is found that all the data in different processes can be simultaneously well reproduced, and the coupled-channel dynamics produce four hidden-charm scalar molecular states with masses around 3.73, 3.94, 3.99 and 4.23 GeV, respectively. The results may deepen our understanding of the spectrum of charmonia as well as of the interactions between charmed hadrons.

Abstract: We discuss the modification of the properties of the tetraquark-like Tcc(3875)+ and Tc over bar c over bar (3875)- states in dense nuclear matter. We consider the Tcc+ and Tc over bar c over bar – in vacuum as purely isoscalar D*D and D*D S-wave bound states, respectively, dynamically generated from a heavy-quark effective interaction between the charmed mesons. We compute the D, D, D*, and D* spectral functions embedded in a nuclear medium and use them to determine the corresponding Tcc+ and Tc over bar c over bar – self-energies and spectral functions. We find important modifications of the D*D and D*D scattering amplitudes and of the pole position of these exotic states already for p0/2, with p0 the normal nuclear density. We also discuss the dependence of these results on the D*D (D*D) molecular component in the Tcc+ (Tc over bar c- over bar ) wave function. Owing to the different nature of the D(*)N and D(*)N interactions, we find characteristic changes of the in-medium properties of the Tcc(3875)+ and Tc over bar c over bar (3875)-, which become increasingly visible as the density increases. The experimental confirmation of the found distinctive density pattern will give support to the existence of molecular components in these tetraquark-like states, since in the case they were mostly colorless compact quark structures (cct over bar t over bar and c over bar c over bar tt, with t = u, d), the density behaviors of the Tcc(3875)+ and Tc over bar c over bar (3875)- nuclear medium spectral functions, though different, would not likely be the same as those found in this work for molecular scenarios. Finally, we perform similar analyses for the isoscalar JP = 1+ heavy-quark spin symmetry partners of the Tcc+ (T cc *+ ) and the T c over bar c- over bar (T*- c over bar c over bar ) by considering the D*0D*+ and D*0D*- scattering T matrices.

Abstract: We have conducted a study of the femtoscopic correlation functions for the D0D*+ and D+D*0 channels that build the Tcc state. We develop a formalism that allows us to factorize the scattering amplitudes outside the integrals in the formulas, and the integrals involve the range of the strong interaction explicitly. For a source of size of 1 fm, we find values for the correlation functions of the D0D*+ and D+D*0 channels at the origin around 30 and 2.5, respectively, and we see these observables converging to unity already for relative momenta of the order of 200 MeV. We conduct tests to see the relevance of the different contributions to the correlation function and find that it mostly provides information on the scattering length, but should the correlation functions be measured with the precision of the latest experiments, the effective range of the D0D*+ could also be obtained.

Abstract: The study of J/ψ photoproduction at low energies has consequences for the understanding of multiple aspects of nonperturbative QCD, ranging from mechanical properties of the proton to the binding inside nuclei and the existence of hidden-charm pentaquarks. Factorization of the photon-c¯c and nucleon dynamics or vector meson dominance are often invoked to justify these studies. Alternatively, open-charm intermediate states have been proposed as the dominant mechanism underlying J/ψ photoproduction. As the latter violates this factorization, it is important to estimate the relevance of such contributions. We analyze the latest differential and integrated photoproduction cross sections from the GlueX and J/ψ−007 experiments. We show that the data can be adequately described by a small number of partial waves, which we parametrize with generic models enforcing low-energy unitarity. The results suggest a non-negligible contribution from open-charm intermediate states. Furthermore, most of the models present an elastic scattering length incompatible with previous extractions based on vector meson dominance and thus call into question its applicability to heavy mesons. Our results indicate a wide array of physics possibilities that are compatible with present data and need to be disentangled.