Reuse & Permissions

It is not necessary to obtain permission to reuse this article or its components as it is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI are maintained. Please note that some figures may have been included with permission from other third parties. It is your responsibility to obtain the proper permission from the rights holder directly for these figures.

Export citation

Export citation

Choose format for download:

Download Citation
  • Open Access

Rescattering effects in near-threshold J/ψ photoproduction

S. Sakinah1, Sang-Ho Kim2,*, and H. M. Choi1

  • *Contact author: shkimphy@gmail.com

Phys. Rev. D 114, 054055 – Published 29 September, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/sh13-grfw

Abstract

We investigate near-threshold J/ψ photoproduction off the nucleon, focusing on hadronic rescattering effects induced by open-charm meson-baryon intermediate states. Beyond the conventional Pomeron-exchange mechanism, the D¯0Λc+ and D¯*0Λc+ channels are incorporated within an effective Lagrangian framework. The relevant production amplitudes are constructed at tree level from t-, s-, and u-channel diagrams in a gauge-invariant manner. The resulting total and t-dependent differential cross sections are compared with recent near-threshold data from the GlueX, J/ψ−007, and CLAS experiments at Jefferson Laboratory. We find that the open-charm rescattering contributions improve the description of the data, especially for the differential cross sections at large momentum transfer, and can generate cusplike enhancements near the D¯0Λc+ and D¯*0Λc+ thresholds within the present hadronic model. We further present model estimates for the associated open-charm production processes γp→D¯(*)0Λc+, with total cross sections of the order of a few nanobarns.

View figure in article

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

References (70)

  1. U. Camerini, J. G. Learned, R. Prepost, C. M. Spencer, D. E. Wiser, W. Ash, R. L. Anderson, D. Ritson, D. Sherden, and C. K. Sinclair, Photoproduction of the ψ particles, Phys. Rev. Lett. 35, 483 (1975).
  2. M. E. Binkley et al., J/ψ photoproduction from 60 to 300 GeV/c, Phys. Rev. Lett. 48, 73 (1982).
  3. P. L. Frabetti et al., A measurement of elastic J/ψ photoproduction cross section at Fermilab E687, Phys. Lett. B 316, 197 (1993).
  4. S. Aid et al. (H1 Collaboration), Elastic and inelastic photoproduction of J/ψ mesons at HERA, Nucl. Phys. B472, 3 (1996).
  5. C. Adloff et al. (H1 Collaboration), Elastic photoproduction of J/ψ and ϒ mesons at HERA, Phys. Lett. B 483, 23 (2000).
  6. S. Chekanov et al. (ZEUS Collaboration), Exclusive photoproduction of J/ψ mesons at HERA, Eur. Phys. J. C 24, 345 (2002).
  7. A. Donnachie and P. V. Landshoff, Elastic scattering and diffraction dissociation, Nucl. Phys. B244, 322 (1984).
  8. A. Donnachie and P. V. Landshoff, Dynamics of elastic scattering, Nucl. Phys. B267, 690 (1986).
  9. A. Donnachie and P. V. Landshoff, Exclusive rho production in deep inelastic scattering, Phys. Lett. B 185, 403 (1987).
  10. A. Donnachie and P. V. Landshoff, Small x: Two pomerons!, Phys. Lett. B 437, 408 (1998).
  11. A. Donnachie and P. V. Landshoff, Charm production at HERA, Phys. Lett. B 470, 243 (1999).
  12. R. Fiore, L. L. Jenkovszky, and F. Paccanoni, Photoproduction of heavy vector mesons at HERA: A test field for diffraction, Eur. Phys. J. C 10, 461 (1999).
  13. E. Martynov, E. Predazzi, and A. Prokudin, Photoproduction of vector mesons in the soft dipole pomeron model, Phys. Rev. D 67, 074023 (2003).
  14. A. Ali et al. (GlueX Collaboration), First measurement of near-threshold J/ψ exclusive photoproduction off the proton, Phys. Rev. Lett. 123, 072001 (2019).
  15. S. Adhikari et al. (GlueX Collaboration), Measurement of the J/ψ photoproduction cross section over the full near-threshold kinematic region, Phys. Rev. C 108, 025201 (2023).
  16. B. Duran et al., Determining the gluonic gravitational form factors of the proton, Nature (London) 615, 813 (2023).
  17. S. Joosten et al. (J/ψ−007 Collaboration), Near-threshold J/ψ→μ+μ− photoproduction and the gluonic gravitational form factors of the proton, arXiv:2602.14416.
  18. P. Chatagnon et al. (CLAS Collaboration), Measurement of the near-threshold J/ψ photoproduction cross section with the CLAS12 experiment, Phys. Rev. C 113, 065203 (2026).
  19. T.-S. H. Lee, S. Sakinah, and Y. Oh, Models of J/ψ photo-production reactions on the nucleon, Eur. Phys. J. A 58, 252 (2022).
  20. F. Zeng, X. Y. Wang, L. Zhang, Y. P. Xie, R. Wang, and X. Chen, Near-threshold photoproduction of J/ψ in two-gluon exchange model, Eur. Phys. J. C 80, 1027 (2020).
  21. Y. Guo, X. Ji, and Y. Liu, QCD Analysis of near-threshold photon-proton production of heavy quarkonium, Phys. Rev. D 103, 096010 (2021).
  22. Y. Hatta and D. L. Yang, Holographic J/ψ production near threshold and the proton mass problem, Phys. Rev. D 98, 074003 (2018).
  23. Y. Hatta, A. Rajan, and D. L. Yang, Near threshold J/ψ and ϒ photoproduction at JLab and RHIC, Phys. Rev. D 100, 014032 (2019).
  24. K. A. Mamo and I. Zahed, Diffractive photoproduction of J/ψ and ϒ using holographic QCD: Gravitational form factors and GPD of gluons in the proton, Phys. Rev. D 101, 086003 (2020).
  25. K. A. Mamo and I. Zahed, Electroproduction of heavy vector mesons using holographic QCD: From near threshold to high energy regimes, Phys. Rev. D 104, 066023 (2021).
  26. S. Sakinah, T. S. H. Lee, and H. M. Choi, Dynamical model of J/ψ photoproduction on the nucleon, Phys. Rev. C 109, 065204 (2024).
  27. L. Tang, Y. X. Yang, Z. F. Cui, and C. D. Roberts, J/ψ photoproduction: Threshold to very high energy, Phys. Lett. B 856, 138904 (2024).
  28. L. Tang, H. Y. Xing, M. Ding, and C. D. Roberts, Exclusive photoproduction of light and heavy vector mesons: Thresholds to very high energies, Eur. Phys. J. C 86, 284 (2026).
  29. M. A. Pichowsky and T. S. H. Lee, Exclusive diffractive processes and the quark substructure of mesons, Phys. Rev. D 56, 1644 (1997).
  30. S. H. Kim, J/ψ-meson photoproduction off the nucleon in a dynamical model, Phys. Lett. B 868, 139725 (2025).
  31. S. Okubo, ϕ-meson and unitary symmetry model, Phys. Lett. 5, 165 (1963).
  32. G. Zweig, CERN Reports No. CERN-TH-401 and No. CERN-TH-412, 1964, 10.17181/CERN-TH-412.
  33. J. Iizuka, Systematics and phenomenology of meson family, Prog. Theor. Phys. Suppl. 37, 21 (1966).
  34. J. J. Wu, R. Molina, E. Oset, and B. S. Zou, Prediction of narrow N* and Λ* resonances with hidden charm above 4 GeV, Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 232001 (2010).
  35. M. Z. Liu, Y. W. Pan, F. Z. Peng, M. Sánchez Sánchez, L. S. Geng, A. Hosaka, and M. Pavon Valderrama, Emergence of a complete heavy-quark spin symmetry multiplet: Seven molecular pentaquarks in light of the latest LHCb analysis, Phys. Rev. Lett. 122, 242001 (2019).
  36. C. Fernández-Ramírez, A. Pilloni, M. Albaladejo, A. Jackura, V. Mathieu, M. Mikhasenko, J.  A. Silva-Castro, and A.  P. Szczepaniak (JPAC Collaboration), Interpretation of the LHCb Pc(4312)+ signal, Phys. Rev. Lett. 123, 092001 (2019).
  37. M. L. Du, V. Baru, F. K. Guo, C. Hanhart, U. G. Meißner, J. A. Oller, and Q. Wang, Interpretation of the LHCb Pc states as hadronic molecules and hints of a narrow Pc(4380), Phys. Rev. Lett. 124, 072001 (2020).
  38. Q. Wang, X. H. Liu, and Q. Zhao, Photoproduction of hidden charm pentaquark states Pc+(4380) and Pc+(4450), Phys. Rev. D 92, 034022 (2015).
  39. V. Kubarovsky and M. B. Voloshin, Formation of hidden-charm pentaquarks in photon-nucleon collisions, Phys. Rev. D 92, 031502 (2015).
  40. M. Karliner and J. L. Rosner, Photoproduction of exotic baryon resonances, Phys. Lett. B 752, 329 (2016).
  41. A. N. Hiller Blin, C. Fernández-Ramírez, A. Jackura, V. Mathieu, V. I. Mokeev, A. Pilloni, and A. P. Szczepaniak, Studying the Pc(4450) resonance in J/ψ photoproduction off protons, Phys. Rev. D 94, 034002 (2016).
  42. X. Y. Wang, X. R. Chen, and J. He, Possibility to study pentaquark states Pc(4312), Pc(4440), and Pc(4457) in γp→J/ψp reaction, Phys. Rev. D 99, 114007 (2019).
  43. J. J. Wu, T. S. H. Lee, and B. S. Zou, Nucleon resonances with hidden charm in γp reactions, Phys. Rev. C 100, 035206 (2019).
  44. D. Winney, C. Fanelli, A. Pilloni, A.  N. Hiller Blin, C. Fernández-Ramírez, M. Albaladejo, V. Mathieu, V.  I. Mokeev, and A.  P. Szczepaniak (JPAC Collaboration), Double polarization observables in pentaquark photoproduction, Phys. Rev. D 100, 034019 (2019).
  45. I. Strakovsky, W. J. Briscoe, E. Chudakov, I. Larin, L. Pentchev, A. Schmidt, and R. L. Workman, Plausibility of the LHCb Pc(4312)+ in the GlueX γp→J/ψp total cross sections, Phys. Rev. C 108, 015202 (2023).
  46. S. Navas et al. (Particle Data Group), Review of particle physics, Phys. Rev. D 110, 030001 (2024).
  47. M. L. Du, V. Baru, F. K. Guo, C. Hanhart, U. G. Meißner, A. Nefediev, and I. Strakovsky, Deciphering the mechanism of near-threshold J/ψ photoproduction, Eur. Phys. J. C 80, 1053 (2020).
  48. D. Winney et al. (JPAC Collaboration), Dynamics in near-threshold J/ψ photoproduction, Phys. Rev. D 108, 054018 (2023).
  49. R. Aaij et al. (LHCb Collaboration), Observation of J/ψp resonances consistent with pentaquark states in Λb0→J/ψK−p decays, Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 072001 (2015).
  50. R. Aaij et al. (LHCb Collaboration), Observation of a narrow pentaquark state, Pc(4312)+, and of the two-peak structure of the Pc(4450)+, Phys. Rev. Lett. 122, 222001 (2019).
  51. R. Aaij et al. (LHCb Collaboration), Evidence for a new structure in the J/ψp and J/ψp¯ systems in Bs0→J/ψpp¯ decays, Phys. Rev. Lett. 128, 062001 (2022).
  52. S. Clymton, H.-Ch. Kim, and T. Mart, Production mechanism of the hidden charm pentaquark states Pcc¯, Phys. Rev. D 110, 094014 (2024).
  53. X. Zhang, Pentaquarks Pc in a dynamical coupled-channel approach of γp→J/ψp reaction, Eur. Phys. J. C 85, 1120 (2025).
  54. B. Wu, X. K. Dong, M. L. Du, F. K. Guo, and B. S. Zou, Deciphering the mechanism of J/ψ-nucleon scattering, Fund. Res. 5, 2530 (2025).
  55. T. Sato and T. S. H. Lee, Meson exchange model for πN scattering and γN→πN reaction, Phys. Rev. C 54, 2660 (1996).
  56. Y. Oh and T. S. H. Lee, ρ meson photoproduction at low energies, Phys. Rev. C 69, 025201 (2004).
  57. A. I. Titov and T. S. H. Lee, Spin effects and baryon resonance dynamics in ϕ meson photoproduction at few GeV, Phys. Rev. C 67, 065205 (2003).
  58. A. S. Fomin, S. Barsuk, A. Y. Korchin, V. A. Kovalchuk, E. Kou, M. Liul, A. Natochii, E. Niel, P. Robbe, and A. Stocchi, The prospect of charm quark magnetic moment determination, Eur. Phys. J. C 80, 358 (2020).
  59. Y. Oh, W. Liu, and C. M. Ko, J/ψ absorption by nucleons in the meson-exchange model, Phys. Rev. C 75, 064903 (2007).
  60. W. Liu, C. M. Ko, and Z. W. Lin, Cross-section for charmonium absorption by nucleons, Phys. Rev. C 65, 015203 (2002).
  61. A. Khodjamirian, C. Klein, T. Mannel, and Y. M. Wang, Form factors and strong couplings of heavy baryons from QCD light-cone sum rules, J. High Energy Phys. 09 (2011) 106.
  62. A. Khodjamirian, C. Klein, T. Mannel, and Y. M. Wang, How much charm can PANDA produce?, Eur. Phys. J. A 48, 31 (2012).
  63. T. Kawanai and S. Sasaki, Charmonium-nucleon potential from lattice QCD, Phys. Rev. D 82, 091501 (2010).
  64. J. Segovia, D. R. Entem, F. Fernandez, and E. Hernandez, Constituent quark model description of charmonium phenomenology, Int. J. Mod. Phys. E 22, 1330026 (2013).
  65. S. H. Kim, T. S. H. Lee, S. i. Nam, and Y. Oh, Dynamical model of ϕ meson photoproduction on the nucleon and He4, Phys. Rev. C 104, 045202 (2021).
  66. B. Dey et al. (CLAS Collaboration), Data analysis techniques, differential cross sections, and spin density matrix elements for the reaction γp→ϕp, Phys. Rev. C 89, 055208 (2014); 90, 019901(E) (2014).
  67. T. C. Jude et al., Observation of a cusp-like structure in the γp→K+Σ0 cross section at forward angles and low momentum transfer, Phys. Lett. B 820, 136559 (2021).
  68. R. Ewald et al. (CBELSA/TAPS Collaboration), Anomaly in the KS0Σ+ photoproduction cross section off the proton at the K* threshold, Phys. Lett. B 713, 180 (2012).
  69. S. i. Nam, Studies on the K*Σ bound-state via K+p→K+ϕp, Phys. Rev. D 103, 054040 (2021).
  70. K. P. Khemchandani, H. Kaneko, H. Nagahiro, and A. Hosaka, Vector meson-baryon dynamics and generation of resonances, Phys. Rev. D 83, 114041 (2011).

Outline

Information

Sign In to Your Journals Account

Filter

Filter

Article Lookup

Enter a citation