Search for the light hadron decay $\chi_{c1}(3872) \to \pi^{+}\pi^{-}\eta$

Abstract

With a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 11.5~fb$^{-1}$ collected with the BESIII detector operating at the BEPCII storage ring, for the first time the light hadron decay $\chi_{c1}(3872) \rightarrow \pi^{+}\pi^{-}\eta$ is searched for. While no significant signal is observed, the upper limits at the 90\% confidence level for $\sigma[e^{+}e^{-} \rightarrow \gamma \chi_{c1}(3872)] \mathcal{B}[\chi_{c1}(3872) \rightarrow \pi^{+}\pi^{-}\eta]$ at center-of-mass energies from 4.13 to 4.34 GeV are determined. By normalizing to the $\chi_{c1}(3872)\to\pi^+\pi^- J/\psi$ decay channel, a 90\% confidence level upper limit for the branching fraction ratio $\mathcal{R}=\mathcal{B}[\chi_{c1}(3872) \rightarrow\pi^{+}\pi^{-}\eta]/\mathcal{B}[\chi_{c1}(3872) \rightarrow \pi^{+}\pi^{-} J/\psi] < 0.12$ is given. These measurements provide important inputs for understanding the internal structure of the $\chi_{c1}(3872)$ resonance.