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Predicting charmed-strange molecular tetraquarks with $K^{(*)}$ and $T$ -doublet charmed or anticharmed meson

Fu-Lai Wang^*, Si-Qiang Luo^†, and Xiang Liu ^‡

School of Physical Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China, Lanzhou Center for Theoretical Physics, Key Laboratory of Theoretical Physics of Gansu Province, Key Laboratory of Quantum Theory and Applications of MoE, Gansu Provincial Research Center for Basic Disciplines of Quantum Physics, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China, MoE Frontiers Science Center for Rare Isotopes, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China, and Research Center for Hadron and CSR Physics, Lanzhou University and Institute of Modern Physics of CAS, Lanzhou 730000, China

^*Contact author: wangfulai@lzu.edu.cn
^†Contact author: luosq15@lzu.edu.cn
^‡Contact author: xiangliu@lzu.edu.cn

Phys. Rev. D 114, 014030 – Published 16 July, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/6llp-6p87

Abstract

In this work, we first present a systematic investigation of the $T_{\bar{c} \bar{s}}$ -type charmed-strange molecular tetraquark candidates composed of a $K^{(*)}$ meson and a $T$ -doublet anticharmed meson using the one-boson-exchange model, which exhibit exotic flavor content $\bar{c} \bar{s} q q$ . Our results suggest that the $K^{*} {\bar{D}}_{1}$ states with $I (J^{P}) = 0 (0^{-}, 1^{-})$ and the $K^{*} {\bar{D}}_{2}^{*}$ states with $I (J^{P}) = 0 (1^{-}, 2^{-})$ represent the most promising candidates of the $T_{\bar{c} \bar{s}}$ -type charmed-strange molecular tetraquarks, while the coupled $K {\bar{D}}_{1} / K^{*} {\bar{D}}_{1} / K^{*} {\bar{D}}_{2}^{*}$ system with $I (J^{P}) = 0 (1^{-})$ and the coupled $K {\bar{D}}_{2}^{*} / K^{*} {\bar{D}}_{1} / K^{*} {\bar{D}}_{2}^{*}$ system with $I (J^{P}) = 0 (2^{-})$ can only be regarded as the possible candidates of the $T_{\bar{c} \bar{s}}$ -type charmed-strange molecular tetraquarks. We further extend our analysis to the $K^{(*)} D_{1} / K^{(*)} D_{2}^{*}$ systems, where our results suggest a series of $T_{c \bar{s}}$ -type charmed-strange molecular tetraquark candidates. These findings provide a comprehensive picture of the molecular spectrum in the charmed-strange tetraquark sector composed of $S$ -wave kaons and (anti)charmed mesons in the $T$ -doublet and can be tested in future experimental studies.

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Strong interaction

Article Text

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Phys. Rev. D 114, 014030– Published 16 July, 2026

Vol. 114, Iss. 1 — 1 July 2026

Received 22 October 2025
Accepted 26 June 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/6llp-6p87

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. Funded by SCOAP³.

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Predicting charmed-strange molecular tetraquarks with $K^{(*)}$ and $T$ -doublet charmed or anticharmed meson

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Predicting charmed-strange molecular tetraquarks with K(*) and T-doublet charmed or anticharmed meson

Abstract

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

References (69)

Predicting charmed-strange molecular tetraquarks with $K^{(*)}$ and $T$ -doublet charmed or anticharmed meson