Abstract: We explore the consequences of heavy flavor, heavy quark spin, and heavy antiquark-diquark symmetries for hadronic molecules within an effective field theory framework. Owing to heavy antiquark-diquark symmetry, the doubly heavy baryons have approximately the same light-quark structure as the heavy antimesons. As a consequence, the existence of a heavy meson-antimeson molecule implies the possibility of a partner composed of a heavy meson and a doubly heavy baryon. In this regard, the D (D) over bar* molecular nature of the X(3872) will hint at the existence of several baryonic partners with isospin I = 0 and J(P) = 5(-)/2 or 3(-)/2. Moreover, if the Z(b)(10650) turns out to be a B*(B) over bar* bound state, we can be confident of the existence of Xi(bb)*(B) over bar* hadronic molecules with quantum numbers I(J(P)) = 1(1(-)/2) and I(J(P)) = 1(3/2(-)). These states are of special interest since they can be considered to be triply heavy pentaquarks.

Abstract: Since 2003 many new hadrons, including the lowest-lying positive-parity charm-strange mesons D*(s0) (2317) and D-s1 (2460), have been observed that do not conform with quark-model expectations. It was recently demonstrated that various puzzles in the charm-meson spectrum find a natural resolution if the SU(3) multiplets for the lightest scalar and axial-vector states, among them the D*(s0) (2317) and the D-s1 (2460), owe their existence to the nonperturbative dynamics of Goldstone-boson scattering off D-(s) and D*((s)) mesons. Most importantly the ordering of the lightest strange and nonstrange scalars becomes natural. We demonstrate for the first time that this mechanism is strongly supported by the recent high quality data on the B- -> D+ pi(-)pi(-) provided by the LHCb experiment. This implies that the lowest quark-model positive-parity charm mesons, together with their bottom counterparts, if realized in nature, do not form the ground-state multiplet. This is similar to the pattern that has been established for the scalar mesons made from light up, down, and strange quarks, where the lowest multiplet is considered to be made of states not described by the quark model. In a broader view, the hadron spectrum must be viewed as more than a collection of quark-model states.

Abstract: We have done a study of the B--> K-pi X-0(3872) reaction by means of a triangle mechanism via the chain of reactions: B--> K-D*(0);(D) over bar*(0); D*(0)-> pi D-0(0); D-0(D) over bar*(0)-> X(3872). We show that this mechanism generates a triangle singularity in the pi X-0(3872) invariant mass for a very narrow window of the X(3872) mass, around the present measured values, and show that the peak positions and the shape of the mass distributions arc sensitive to the X(3872) mass, such that a measurement of the reaction can serve to improve on the present values of this mass. In particular, we point out that the X(3872) mass relative to the D-0(D) over bar*(0) threshold may be extracted from the asymmetry of the pi X-0 line shape.

Abstract: A coupled-channel approach is applied to the charged tetraquark state T-cc(+). recently discovered by the LHCb Collaboration. The parameters of the interaction are fixed by a fit to the observed line shape in the three-body (DD0)-D-0 pi(+) channel. Special attention is paid to the three-body dynamics in the T-cc(+) due to the finite life time of the D*. An approach to the T-cc(+) is argued to be self-consistent only if both manifestations of the three-body dynamics, the pion exchange between the D and D* mesons and the finite D* width, are taken into account simultaneously to ensure that three-body unitarity is preserved. This is especially important to precisely extract the pole position in the complex energy plane whose imaginary part is very sensitive to the details of the coupled-channel scheme employed. The (DD0)-D-0 and (DD+)-D-0 invariant mass distributions, predicted based on this analysis, are in good agreement with the LHCb data. The low-energy expansion of the D* D scattering amplitude is performed and the low-energy constants (the scattering length and effective range) are extracted. The compositeness parameter of the T-cc(+) is found to be close to unity, which implies that the T-cc(+) is a hadronic molecule generated by the interactions in the D*D-+(0) and D*D-0(+) channels. Employing heavy-quark spin symmetry, an isoscalar D* D* molecular partner of the T-cc(+) with J(P) = 1(+ )is predicted under the assumption that the DD* -D* D* coupled-channel effects can be neglected.

Abstract: Recently, the LHCb Collaboration reported a near-threshold enhancement X(3960) in the D+sD-s invariant mass distribution. We show that the data can be well described by either a bound or a virtual state below the D+sD-s threshold. The mass given by the pole position is (3928 +/- 3) MeV. Using this mass and the existing information on the X(3872) and Zc(3900) resonances, a complete spectrum of the S-wave hadronic molecules formed by a pair of ground state charmed and anticharmed mesons is established. Thus, pole positions of the partners of the X(3872) , Zc(3900) , and the newly observed D+sD-s state are predicted. Calculations have been carried out at the leading order of nonrelativistic effective field theory and considering both heavy quark spin and light flavor SU(3) symmetries, though conservative errors from the breaking of these symmetries are provided.