Charmed baryon spectroscopy and light flavour symmetry from lattice QCD

Abstract

We determine the ground state and first excited state masses of singly and doubly charmed spin 1/2 and 3/2 baryons with positive and negative parity. Configurations with $N_f=2+1$ non-perturbatively improved Wilson-clover fermions were employed, with the same quark action also being used for the valence quarks, including the charm. The spectrum is calculated for pion masses in the range $M_\pi \sim 259-460$ MeV at a lattice spacing $a\sim 0.075$ fm. Finite volume effects are studied comparing lattices with two different linear spatial extents ($1.8\,{\rm fm}$ and $2.4\,{\rm fm}$). The physical point is approached from the SU(3) limit keeping the flavour averaged light quark mass fixed. The baryon masses are extrapolated using expansions in the strange-light quark mass difference. Most particles fall into the expected SU(3) multiplets with well constrained extrapolations, the exceptions having a possibly more complex internal structure. Overall agreement is found with experiment for the masses and splittings of the singly charmed baryons. As part of the calculation an analysis of the lower lying charmonium, $D$ and $D_s$ spectra was performed in order to assess discretisation errors. The gross spectra are reproduced, including the $D^*_{s0}$, $D_{s1}$ and $D_1$ mesons, while at this single lattice spacing hyperfine splittings come out $10-20$ MeV too low.