Mass and Decay-Constant Evolution of Heavy Quarkonia and $B_c$ States from Thermal QCD Sum Rules

Abstract

We analyze the thermal behavior of heavy vector and axial-vector mesons ($J/ψ$, $Υ$, and $B_c$) within the finite-temperature QCD sum-rule framework. Using updated PDG-2024 quark masses, modern lattice-informed gluon condensates, and a temperature-dependent continuum threshold constrained by vacuum stability, we compute the evolution of the masses $m(T)$ and decay constants $f(T)$ up to $T/T_c \lesssim 0.9$. At $T=0$ the sum rules are calibrated to reproduce the experimental and LHCb masses and reference decay constants within the expected $\mathcal{O}(10\%)$ accuracy of a leading-order $+$ $D{=}4$ phenomenological analysis. The subsequent finite-temperature evolution should therefore be interpreted as a calibrated model prediction within this framework rather than as a fully parameter-free determination. Near the critical temperature, the relative suppression follows a clear hierarchy $Υ< J/ψ< B_c$, consistent with their binding energies and lattice spectral trends. The predicted $1P$--$1S$ splitting for the $B_c$ system, $0.477~\mathrm{GeV}$, is consistent with the LHCb observation of orbitally excited $B_c^{+}$ states. The results provide a coherent finite-temperature baseline for future extensions including radiative, higher-dimensional, and width effects.