Novel analysis of the decays psi' -> h_c pi^0 and eta_c'-> chi_{c0} pi^0

Abstract

We show that in the transitions psi' -> h_c \pi^0 and eta_c' -> chi_{c0} pi^0 the contributions from charmed meson loops are highly suppressed, in contrast to various other charmonium decays. We calculate the width of the psi' -> h_c pi^0, which agrees with the recent BES-III data, and predict the width of the eta_c' -> chi_{c0} pi^0, \Gamma(eta_c' -> chi_{c0} pi^0) = 1.5\pm0.4 keV. A confirmation of this prediction would also provide additional support for a recent analysis of psi' -> J/psi pi^0 (eta), where loops are claimed to play a prominent role.