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Semileptonic decays D(s)→η(′)ℓ+νℓ from QCD light-cone sum rules revisited

Xiao-En Huang1, Shan Cheng1,2,3,*, and De-Liang Yao1,2,3,†

  • 1School of Physics and Electronics, Hunan University, 410082 Changsha, China
  • 2School for Theoretical Physics, Hunan University, 410082 Changsha, China
  • 3Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of High-Energy Scale Physics and Applications, 410082 Changsha, China

  • *Contact author: scheng@hnu.edu.cn
  • †Contact author: yaodeliang@hnu.edu.cn
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Phys. Rev. D 113, 053005 – Published 20 March, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/48rp-jbd4

Abstract

In light of recent precision measurements from BESIII, we reanalyze the D,Ds→η(′) transition form factors using quantum chromodynamics (QCD) light-cone sum rules, incorporating high-twist contributions and well-established next-to-leading-order QCD corrections. Our analysis confirms the chiral enhancement effect arising from twist-3 light-cone distribution amplitudes of the pseudoscalar mesons, and demonstrates a rapid convergence of the operator product expansion. The resulting high-accuracy form factors enable us to determine the optimal η−η′ mixing parameters from the precise experimental data for the D,Ds→η(′)ℓ+νℓ (with ℓ=e, μ) differential decay rates. We find that the BESIII data strongly favor a set of mixing parameters, characterized by small decay constants and a large mixing angle, in the quark flavor basis. Notably, the light-cone-sum-rule predictions for the decays D→η(′)ℓ+νℓ, induced by weak c→d current, reach a precision comparable to the BESIII experimental results. Nevertheless, further refined measurements and more accurate form-factor determinations will be essential to scrutinize the potential role of gluonic components in charmed meson semileptonic decays.

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Phys. Rev. D 113, 053005– Published 20 March, 2026
  • Received 23 January 2026
  • Accepted 27 February 2026
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