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Probing excited qq¯ mesons via QCD sum rules

Shuang-Hong Li*, Wei-Yang Lai†, and Hong-Ying Jin‡

  • Zhejiang Institute of Modern Physics, School of Physics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, China

  • *Contact author: shlee@zju.edu.cn
  • †Contact author: laiweiyang@zju.edu.cn
  • ‡Contact author: jinhongying@zju.edu.cn
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Phys. Rev. D 114, 036007 – Published 6 August, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/11jr-fjjp

Abstract

We present a systematic study of the masses of light excited qq¯ mesons using quantum chromodynamics (QCD) sum rules at next-to-leading order (NLO). To probe excited states, we construct several interpolating currents with covariant derivatives inserted. The calculation is carried out up to dimension-8 condensates, including NLO perturbative and m⟨q¯q⟩ corrections. Employing Gaussian sum rules, we obtain several JP=2± nonets with masses that agree well with experiments. Several J=0, 1 states compatible with experiments are also obtained using both Gaussian and Laplace sum rules. In particular, the JPC=2++ current couples to two distinct 2++ resonances. This work demonstrates the efficacy of operators with covariant derivatives for studying excited hadrons.

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Phys. Rev. D 114, 036007– Published 6 August, 2026
  • Received 19 December 2025
  • Accepted 19 May 2026
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