Open Access

Understanding the low-lying $Ω_{c}$ structures from a coupled-channel perspective

Ying Zhang ^1,2,3, Qing-Fu Song ⁴, Qi-Fang Lü ^1,2,3,*, Hideko Nagahiro ^5,6,†, and Atsushi Hosaka ^6,7,8,‡

¹Department of Physics, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081, China
²Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Quantum Structures and Quantum Control of Ministry of Education, Changsha 410081, China
³Key Laboratory for Matter Microstructure and Function of Hunan Province, and Hunan Research Center of the Basic Discipline for Quantum Effects and Quantum Technologies, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081, China
⁴School of Physics, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China
⁵Department of Physics, Nara Women’s University, Nara 630-8506, Japan
⁶Research Center for Nuclear Physics (RCNP), Ibaraki, Osaka 567-0047, Japan
⁷Advanced Science Research Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Tokai, Ibaraki 319-1195, Japan
⁸RIKEN Nishina Center for Accelerator-Based Science, 2-1, Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan

^*Contact author: lvqifang@hunnu.edu.cn
^†Contact author: nagahiro@rcnp.osaka-u.ac.jp
^‡Contact author: hosaka@rcnp.osaka-u.ac.jp

Phys. Rev. D 112, 034035 – Published 27 August, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/grxl-nwwy

Abstract

We perform a systematic analysis of the low-lying $Ω_{c}$ structures in a coupled-channel approach. The couplings between meson-baryon channels, $Ξ_{c} \bar{K}$ , $Ξ_{c}^{'} \bar{K}$ , $Ξ_{c}^{*} \bar{K}$ , $Ω_{c} η$ , and $Ω_{c}^{*} η$ , and three-quark bare states $Ω_{c} (1 P_{λ})$ are considered. We predict a bound state $Ω_{c} (2954)$ below the $Ξ_{c} \bar{K}$ threshold with $(J^{P}, j) = (1 / 2^{-}, 0)$ , which can be studied in the final states of $Ω_{c}^{(*)} π$ and $Ω_{c}^{(*)} γ$ . Also, the resonances $Ω_{c} (3000)$ and $Ω_{c} (3050)$ can be classified as the lower $(J^{P}, j) = (1 / 2^{-}, 1)$ and $(J^{P}, j) = (3 / 2^{-}, 1)$ states, respectively. Our present assignments based on this coupled-channel perspective are significantly different from those of the traditional three-quark picture and of the molecular scenario. The future BelleII and LHCb experiments can search for the bound state $Ω_{c} (2954)$ and measure the spin-parities of particles $Ω_{c} (3000)$ and $Ω_{c} (3050)$ to test our predictions.

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

References (100)

H. X. Chen, W. Chen, X. Liu, Y. R. Liu, and S. L. Zhu, A review of the open charm and open bottom systems, Rep. Prog. Phys. 80, 076201 (2017).
H. Y. Cheng, Charmed baryon physics circa 2021, Chin. J. Phys. (Taipei) 78, 324 (2022).
H. X. Chen, W. Chen, X. Liu, Y. R. Liu, and S. L. Zhu, An updated review of the new hadron states, Rep. Prog. Phys. 86, 026201 (2023).
J. Nieves, A. Feijoo, M. Albaladejo, and M. L. Du, Lowest-lying ${\frac{1}{2}}^{-}$ and ${\frac{3}{2}}^{-} Λ_{Q}$ resonances: From the strange to the bottom sectors, Prog. Part. Nucl. Phys. 137, 104118 (2024).
V. Crede and J. Yelton, 70 years of hyperon spectroscopy: A review of strange $Ξ$ , $Ω$ baryons, and the spectrum of charmed and bottom baryons, Rep. Prog. Phys. 87, 106301 (2024).
N. A. Tornqvist and P. Zenczykowski, Ground-state baryon mass splittings from unitarity, Phys. Rev. D 29, 2139 (1984).
B. Silvestre- Brac and C. Gignoux, Unitary effects in spin orbit splitting of $P$ wave baryons, Phys. Rev. D 43, 3699 (1991).
D. S. Hwang and D. W. Kim, Mass of $D_{s J}^{*} (2317)$ and coupled-channel effect, Phys. Lett. B 601, 137 (2004).
M. R. Pennington and D. J. Wilson, Decay channels and charmonium mass shifts, Phys. Rev. D 76, 077502 (2007).
T. Barnes and E. S. Swanson, Hadron loops: General theorems and application to charmonium, Phys. Rev. C 77, 055206 (2008).
B. Q. Li, C. Meng, and K. T. Chao, Coupled-channel and screening effects in charmonium spectrum, Phys. Rev. D 80, 014012 (2009).
Z. Y. Zhou and Z. Xiao, Hadron loops effect on mass shifts of the charmed and charmed-strange spectra, Phys. Rev. D 84, 034023 (2011).
J. F. Liu and G. J. Ding, Bottomonium spectrum with coupled-channel effects, Eur. Phys. J. C 72, 1981 (2012).
H. Nagahiro, K. Nawa, S. Ozaki, D. Jido, and A. Hosaka, Composite and elementary natures of $a_{1} (1260)$ meson, Phys. Rev. D 83, 111504 (2011).
H. Nagahiro and A. Hosaka, Composite and elementary nature of a resonance in the $σ$ model, Phys. Rev. C 88, 055203 (2013).
H. Nagahiro and A. Hosaka, Elementarity of composite systems, Phys. Rev. C 90, 065201 (2014).
Q. F. Lü, H. Nagahiro, and A. Hosaka, Understanding the nature of $Ω (2012)$ in a coupled-channel approach, Phys. Rev. D 107, 014025 (2023).
J. Ferretti, G. Galatà, and E. Santopinto, Quark structure of the $X (3872)$ and $χ_{b} (3 P)$ resonances, Phys. Rev. D 90, 054010 (2014).
Z. W. Liu, J. M. M. Hall, D. B. Leinweber, A. W. Thomas, and J. J. Wu, Structure of the $Λ (1405)$ from Hamiltonian effective field theory, Phys. Rev. D 95, 014506 (2017).
Y. Lu, M. N. Anwar, and B. S. Zou, How large is the contribution of excited mesons in coupled-channel effects?, Phys. Rev. D 95, 034018 (2017).
S. Q. Luo, B. Chen, Z. W. Liu, and X. Liu, Resolving the low mass puzzle of $Λ_{c} (2940)^{+}$ , Eur. Phys. J. C 80, 301 (2020).
S. Q. Luo, B. Chen, X. Liu, and T. Matsuki, Predicting a new resonance as charmed-strange baryonic analog of $D_{s 0}^{*} (2317)$ , Phys. Rev. D 103, 074027 (2021).
J. M. Xie, M. Z. Liu, and L. S. Geng, $D_{s 0} (2590)$ as a dominant $c \bar{s}$ state with a small $D^{*} K$ component, Phys. Rev. D 104, 094051 (2021).
R. H. Ni, Q. Li, and X. H. Zhong, Mass spectra and strong decays of charmed and charmed-strange mesons, Phys. Rev. D 105, 056006 (2022).
P. G. Ortega, J. Segovia, D. R. Entem, and F. Fernandez, Coupled channel approach to the structure of the $X (3872)$ , Phys. Rev. D 81, 054023 (2010).
Z. Yang, G. J. Wang, J. J. Wu, M. Oka, and S. L. Zhu, Novel coupled channel framework connecting the quark model and lattice QCD for the near-threshold $D_{s}$ States, Phys. Rev. Lett. 128, 11 (2022).
Z. L. Zhang, Z. W. Liu, S. Q. Luo, F. L. Wang, B. Wang, and H. Xu, $Λ_{c} (2910)$ and $Λ_{c} (2940)$ as conventional baryons dressed with the $D^{*} N$ channel, Phys. Rev. D 107, 034036 (2023).
Y. Yamaguchi, A. Hosaka, S. Takeuchi, and M. Takizawa, Heavy hadronic molecules with pion exchange and quark core couplings: A guide for practitioners, J. Phys. G 47, 053001 (2020).
R. Aaij et al. (LHCb Collaboration), Observation of five new narrow $Ω_{c}^{0}$ states decaying to $Ξ_{c}^{+} K^{-}$ , Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 182001 (2017).
J. Yelton et al. (Belle Collaboration), Observation of excited $Ω_{c}$ charmed baryons in $e^{+} e^{-}$ collisions, Phys. Rev. D 97, 051102 (2018).
R. Aaij et al. (LHCb Collaboration), Observation of excited $Ω_{c}^{0}$ baryons in $Ω_{b}^{-} \to Ξ_{c}^{+} K^{-} π^{-}$ decays, Phys. Rev. D 104, L091102 (2021).
R. Aaij et al. (LHCb Collaboration), Observation of new $Ω_{c}^{0}$ states decaying to the $Ξ_{c}^{+} K^{-}$ final state, Phys. Rev. Lett. 131, 131902 (2023).
H. X. Chen, Q. Mao, W. Chen, A. Hosaka, X. Liu, and S. L. Zhu, Decay properties of $P$ -wave charmed baryons from light-cone QCD sum rules, Phys. Rev. D 95, 094008 (2017).
M. Karliner and J. L. Rosner, Very narrow excited $Ω_{c}$ baryons, Phys. Rev. D 95, 114012 (2017).
K. L. Wang, L. Y. Xiao, X. H. Zhong, and Q. Zhao, Understanding the newly observed $Ω_{c}$ states through their decays, Phys. Rev. D 95, 116010 (2017).
W. Wang and R. L. Zhu, Interpretation of the newly observed $Ω_{c}^{0}$ resonances, Phys. Rev. D 96, 014024 (2017).
M. Padmanath and N. Mathur, Quantum numbers of recently discovered $Ω_{c}^{0}$ baryons from lattice QCD, Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 042001 (2017).
H. Y. Cheng and C. W. Chiang, Quantum numbers of $Ω_{c}$ states and other charmed baryons, Phys. Rev. D 95, 094018 (2017).
Z. G. Wang, Analysis of $Ω_{c} (3000)$ , $Ω_{c} (3050)$ , $Ω_{c} (3066)$ , $Ω_{c} (3090)$ and $Ω_{c} (3119)$ with QCD sum rules, Eur. Phys. J. C 77, 325 (2017).
Z. Zhao, D. D. Ye, and A. Zhang, Hadronic decay properties of newly observed $Ω_{c}$ baryons, Phys. Rev. D 95, 114024 (2017).
B. Chen and X. Liu, New $Ω_{c}^{0}$ baryons discovered by LHCb as the members of $1 P$ and $2 S$ states, Phys. Rev. D 96, 094015 (2017).
G. L. Yu, Z. Y. Li, Z. G. Wang, J. Lu, and M. Yan, Systematic analysis of single heavy baryons $Λ_{Q}$ , $Σ_{Q}$ and $Ω_{Q}$ , Nucl. Phys. B990, 116183 (2023).
S. Q. Luo and X. Liu, Newly observed $Ω_{c} (3327)$ : A good candidate for a $D -$ wave charmed baryon, Phys. Rev. D 107, 074041 (2023).
Y. X. Peng, S. Q. Luo, and X. Liu, Refining radiative decay studies in singly heavy baryons, Phys. Rev. D 110, 074034 (2024).
S. S. Agaev, K. Azizi, and H. Sundu, Interpretation of the new $Ω_{c}^{0}$ states via their mass and width, Eur. Phys. J. C 77, 395 (2017).
K. L. Wang, Y. X. Yao, X. H. Zhong, and Q. Zhao, Strong and radiative decays of the low-lying $S$ - and $P$ -wave singly heavy baryons, Phys. Rev. D 96, 116016 (2017).
K. Chen, Y. Dong, X. Liu, Q. F. Lü, and T. Matsuki, Regge-like relation and a universal description of heavy–light systems, Eur. Phys. J. C 78, 20 (2018).
E. Santopinto, A. Giachino, J. Ferretti, H. García-Tecocoatzi, M. A. Bedolla, R. Bijker, and E. Ortiz-Pacheco, The $Ω_{c}$ -puzzle solved by means of quark model predictions, Eur. Phys. J. C 79, 1012 (2019).
K. Gandhi and A. K. Rai, Spectrum of strange singly charmed baryons in the constituent quark model, Eur. Phys. J. Plus 135, 213 (2020).
H. Garcilazo, J. Vijande, and A. Valcarce, Faddeev study of heavy baryon spectroscopy, J. Phys. G 34, 961 (2007).
D. Ebert, R. N. Faustov, and V. O. Galkin, Spectroscopy and Regge trajectories of heavy baryons in the relativistic quark-diquark picture, Phys. Rev. D 84, 014025 (2011).
R. N. Faustov and V. O. Galkin, Heavy baryon spectroscopy in the relativistic quark model, Particles 3, 234 (2020).
H. Bahtiyar, K. U. Can, G. Erkol, P. Gubler, M. Oka, and T. T. Takahashi, Charmed baryon spectrum from lattice QCD near the physical point, Phys. Rev. D 102, 054513 (2020).
D. J. Jia, J. H. Pan, and C. Q. Pang, A mixing coupling scheme for spectra of singly heavy baryons with spin-1 diquarks in $P$ -waves, Eur. Phys. J. C 81, 434 (2021).
B. Chen, S. Q. Luo, and X. Liu, Universal behavior of mass gaps existing in the single heavy baryon family, Eur. Phys. J. C 81, 474 (2021).
M. V. Polyakov and M. Praszalowicz, Landscape of heavy baryons from the perspective of the chiral quark-soliton model, Phys. Rev. D 105, 094004 (2022).
H. Garcia-Tecocoatzi, A. Giachino, J. Li, A. Ramirez-Morales, and E. Santopinto, Strong decay widths and mass spectra of charmed baryons, Phys. Rev. D 107, 034031 (2023).
G. L. Yu, Y. Meng, Z. Y. Li, Z. G. Wang, and L. Jie, Strong decay properties of single heavy baryons $Λ_{Q}$ , $Σ_{Q}$ and $Ω_{Q}$ , Int. J. Mod. Phys. A 38, 2350082 (2023).
Z. G. Wang, F. Lu, and Y. Liu, Analysis of the $D -$ wave $Σ$ -type charmed baryon states with the QCD sum rules, Eur. Phys. J. C 83, 689 (2023).
J. Oudichhya and A. K. Rai, Spin-parity identification of newly observed singly charmed baryons in Regge phenomenology, Eur. Phys. J. A 59, 123 (2023).
E. Ortiz-Pacheco and R. Bijker, Masses and radiative decay widths of $S$ - and $P$ -wave singly, doubly, and triply heavy charm and bottom baryons, Phys. Rev. D 108, 054014 (2023).
J. H. Pan and J. Pan, Investigation of the mass spectra of singly heavy baryons $Σ_{Q}$ , $Ξ_{Q}^{'}$ , and $Ω_{Q} (Q = c, b)$ in the Regge trajectory model, Phys. Rev. D 109, 076010 (2024).
Z. Y. Li, G. L. Yu, Z. G. Wang, and J. Z. Gu, Heavy-quark dominance and fine structure of excited heavy baryons $Σ_{Q}$ , $Ξ_{Q}^{'}$ and $Ω_{Q}$ , Eur. Phys. J. C 84, 1310 (2024).
X. Z. Weng, W. Z. Deng, and S. L. Zhu, Heavy baryons in the relativized quark model with chromodynamics, Phys. Rev. D 110, 056052 (2024).
E. Ortiz-Pacheco and R. Bijker, Strong decay widths of S- and P-wave singly-, doubly- and triply-heavy charm and bottom baryons, arXiv:2410.09622.
H. H. Zhong, M. S. Liu, L. Y. Xiao, K. L. Wang, Qi-Li, and X. H. Zhong, $Ω_{c}$ baryon spectrum and strong decays in a constituent quark model, arXiv:2502.13741.
G. Yang and J. Ping, Dynamical study of $Ω_{c}^{0}$ in the chiral quark model, Phys. Rev. D 97, 034023 (2018).
H. Huang, J. Ping, and F. Wang, Investigating the excited $Ω_{c}^{0}$ states through $Ξ_{c} K$ and $Ξ_{c}^{'} K$ decay channels, Phys. Rev. D 97, 034027 (2018).
H. C. Kim, M. V. Polyakov, and M. Praszałowicz, Possibility of the existence of charmed exotica, Phys. Rev. D 96, 014009 (2017).
Y. Liu and I. Zahed, Heavy and strange holographic baryons, Phys. Rev. D 96, 056027 (2017).
C. S. An and H. Chen, Observed $Ω_{c}^{0}$ resonances as pentaquark states, Phys. Rev. D 96, 034012 (2017).
H. C. Kim, M. V. Polyakov, M. Praszalowicz, and G. S. Yang, Strong decays of exotic and nonexotic heavy baryons in the chiral quark-soliton model, Phys. Rev. D 96, 094021 (2017); 97, 039901(E) (2018).
G. Montaña, A. Feijoo, and À. Ramos, A meson-baryon molecular interpretation for some $Ω_{c}$ excited states, Eur. Phys. J. A 54, 64 (2018).
V. R. Debastiani, J. M. Dias, W. H. Liang, and E. Oset, Molecular $Ω_{c}$ states generated from coupled meson-baryon channels, Phys. Rev. D 97, 094035 (2018).
C. Wang, L. L. Liu, X. W. Kang, X. H. Guo, and R. W. Wang, Possible open-charmed pentaquark molecule $Ω_{c} (3188)$ —the $D Ξ$ bound state—in the Bethe-Salpeter formalism, Eur. Phys. J. C 78, 407 (2018).
R. Chen, A. Hosaka, and X. Liu, Searching for possible $Ω_{c}$ -like molecular states from meson-baryon interaction, Phys. Rev. D 97, 036016 (2018).
J. Nieves, R. Pavao, and L. Tolos, $Ω_{c}$ excited states within a ${SU (6)}_{lsf} \times HQSS$ model, Eur. Phys. J. C 78, 114 (2018).
Y. Huang, C. J. Xiao, Q. F. Lü, R. Wang, J. He, and L. S. Geng, Strong and radiative decays of $D Ξ$ molecular state and newly observed $Ω_{c}$ states, Phys. Rev. D 97, 094013 (2018).
V. R. Debastiani, J. M. Dias, W. H. Liang, and E. Oset, $Ω_{b}^{-} \to (Ξ_{c}^{+} K^{-}) π^{-}$ and the $Ω_{c}$ states, Phys. Rev. D 98, 094022 (2018).
Z. G. Wang and J. X. Zhang, Possible pentaquark candidates: New excited $Ω_{c}$ states, Eur. Phys. J. C 78, 503 (2018).
H. G. Xu, G. Chen, Y. L. Yan, D. M. Zhou, L. Zheng, Y. L. Xie, Z. L. She, and B. H. Sa, Study on the $Ω_{c}^{0}$ states decaying to $Ξ_{c}^{+} K^{-}$ in $p p$ collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 7$ , 13 TeV, Phys. Rev. C 102, 054319 (2020).
J. T. Zhu, S. Y. Kong, L. Q. Song, and J. He, Systematical study of $Ω_{c} -$ like molecular states from interactions $Ξ_{c}^{(', *)} {\bar{K}}^{(*)}$ and $Ξ^{(*)} D^{(*)}$ , Phys. Rev. D 105, 094036 (2022).
Q. Xin, X. S. Yang, and Z. G. Wang, The singly charmed pentaquark molecular states via the QCD sum rules, Int. J. Mod. Phys. A 38, 2350123 (2023).
Y. Yan, X. Hu, H. Huang, and J. Ping, Investigating excited $Ω_{c}$ states from pentaquark perspective, Phys. Rev. D 108, 094045 (2023).
U. Özdem, Magnetic dipole moments of the $Ω_{c} (3185)^{0}$ and $Ω_{c} (3327)^{0}$ states from molecular perspective, Phys. Lett. B 849, 138432 (2024).
B. Wang, K. Chen, L. Meng, and S. L. Zhu, Spectrum of the molecular pentaquarks, Phys. Rev. D 109, 074035 (2024).
N. Ikeno, W. H. Liang, and E. Oset, Molecular nature of the $Ω_{c} (3120)$ and its analogy with the $Ω (2012)$ , Phys. Rev. D 109, 054023 (2024).
W. Roberts and M. Pervin, Heavy baryons in a quark model, Int. J. Mod. Phys. A 23, 2817 (2008).
T. Yoshida, E. Hiyama, A. Hosaka, M. Oka, and K. Sadato, Spectrum of heavy baryons in the quark model, Phys. Rev. D 92, 114029 (2015).
Q. F. Song, Q. F. Lü, and A. Hosaka, Bottom-charmed baryons in a nonrelativistic quark model, Eur. Phys. J. C 84, 89 (2024).
M. S. Liu, K. L. Wang, Q. F. Lü, and X. H. Zhong, $Ω$ baryon spectrum and their decays in a constituent quark model, Phys. Rev. D 101, 016002 (2020).
A. J. Arifi, D. Suenaga, A. Hosaka, and Y. Oh, Strong decays of multistrangeness baryon resonances in the quark model, Phys. Rev. D 105, 094006 (2022).
A. J. Arifi, H. Nagahiro, and A. Hosaka, Three-body decay of $Λ_{c}^{*} (2595)$ and $Λ_{c}^{*} (2625)$ with consideration of $Σ_{c} (2455) π$ and $Σ_{c}^{*} (2520) π$ in intermediate states, Phys. Rev. D 95, 114018 (2017).
H. Nagahiro, S. Yasui, A. Hosaka, M. Oka, and H. Noumi, Structure of charmed baryons studied by pionic decays, Phys. Rev. D 95, 014023 (2017).
Y. L. Shu, Q. F. Song, and Q. F. Lü, Strong decays of $P -$ wave doubly charmed and bottom baryons, arXiv:2408.11578.
S. Weinberg, Algebraic realizations of chiral symmetry, Phys. Rev. 177, 2604 (1969).
X. H. Zhong and Q. Zhao, Charmed baryon strong decays in a chiral quark model, Phys. Rev. D 77, 074008 (2008).
W. Liang, Q. F. Lü, and X. H. Zhong, Canonical interpretation of the newly observed $Λ_{b} (6146)^{0}$ and $Λ_{b} (6152)^{0}$ via strong decay behaviors, Phys. Rev. D 100, 054013 (2019).
W. Liang and Q. F. Lü, Strong decays of the newly observed narrow $Ω_{b}$ structures, Eur. Phys. J. C 80, 198 (2020).
Y. Zhang, Q.-F. Song, Q.-F. Lü, H. Nagahiro, and A. Hosaka, Pole positions as functions of the cutoff parameter and three-quark bare masses, 10.5281/zenodo.16812983 (2025).

Phys. Rev. D 112, 034035– Published 27 August, 2025

Vol. 112, Iss. 3 — 1 August 2025

Received 14 July 2025
Accepted 4 August 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/grxl-nwwy

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.

Published by the American Physical Society

Physical Review D

Reuse & Permissions

Export citation

Export citation

Understanding the low-lying $Ω_{c}$ structures from a coupled-channel perspective

Abstract

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

References (100)

Outline

Information

Filter

Filter

Article Lookup

Enter a citation

Understanding the low-lying Ωc structures from a coupled-channel perspective

Abstract

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

References (100)

Understanding the low-lying $Ω_{c}$ structures from a coupled-channel perspective