$D^+ \to K_s^0 \pi^+ \eta$ reaction and $a_0(980)^+$

Abstract

We study the $D^+ \to \bar K^0 \pi^+ \eta$ reaction where the $a_0(980)$ excitation plays a dominant role. We consider mechanisms of external and internal emission at the quark level, hadronize the $q \bar q$ components into two mesons and allow these mesons to undergo final state interaction where the $a_0(980)$ state is generated. While the $a_0(980)$ production is the dominant term, we also find other terms in the reaction that interfere with this production mode and, through interference with it, lead to a shape of the $a_0(980)$ significantly different from the one observed in other experiments, with an apparently much larger width.