Phase motion in the $Z^-(4430)$ amplitude in $B^0\to\psi^\prime\pi^-K^+$ decay

Abstract

In view of the proliferation in the number of new charmonium states, it is really important to have a experimental way to prove that an observed bump is, indeed, a real resonance. To do that, in this paper we present an alternative method to demonstrate the resonant behavior of a state. With this method, the phase variation of a generic complex amplitude can be directly revealed through interference in the Dalitz-plot region where it crosses a well established resonant state, used as a probe. We have tested the method for the $Z^-(4430)$ state by generating Monte Carlo samples for the $B^0\to \psi^\prime \pi^-K^+$ decay channel. We have shown that the proposed method gives a clear oscillation behavior, related to the phase variation associated to a real resonant state, in the case where the $Z^-(4430)$ is considered as a regular resonance with a strong phase variation. We have also discussed the possibility of using the proposed method complementary to the Argand diagram to determine the internal structure of the $Z^-(4430)$ state.