Observation of Three Resonant Structures in the Cross Section of $e^+e^-\to\pi^+\pi^- h_c$

Abstract

Using $e^+e^-$ collision data collected with the BESIII detector operating at the Beijing Electron Positron Collider, the cross section of $e^+e^-\to \pi^+\pi^- h_c$ is measured at 59 points with center-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s}$ ranging from $4.009$ to $4.950~\mathrm{GeV}$ with a total integrated luminosity of $22.2~\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$. The cross section between $4.3$ and $4.45~\mathrm{GeV}$ exhibits a plateau-like shape and drops sharply around $4.5~\mathrm{GeV}$, which cannot be described by two resonances only. Three coherent Breit-Wigner functions are used to parameterize the $\sqrt{s}$-dependent cross section line shape. The masses and widths are determined to be $M_1=(4223.6_{-3.7-2.9}^{+3.6+2.6})~\mathrm{MeV}/c^2$, $\Gamma_1=(58.5_{-11.4-6.5}^{+10.8+6.7})~\mathrm{MeV}$, $M_2=(4327.4_{-18.8-9.3}^{+20.1+10.7})~\mathrm{MeV}/c^2$, $\Gamma_2=(244.1_{-27.1-18.3}^{+34.0+24.2})~\mathrm{MeV}$, and $M_3=(4467.4_{-5.4-2.7}^{+7.2+3.2})~\mathrm{MeV}/c^2$, $\Gamma_3=(62.8_{-14.4-7.0}^{+19.2+9.9})~\mathrm{MeV}$. The first uncertainties are statistical and the second are systematic. The inclusion of the relatively narrower third component proves crucial for reproducing the drop at around 4.5~GeV. The statistical significance of the three-resonance assumption over the two-resonance assumption is greater than $5\sigma$.