Vector charmonium(-like) states in the energy range of 4.1-4.6 GeV

Abstract

The spectrum of vector charmonium(-like) states in the 4.1\dash4.6~GeV energy region exhibits a long-standing tension between inclusive and exclusive measurements. While the inclusive $R$-value indicates only conventional vector charmonia such as $ψ(4160)$ and $ψ(4415)$, exclusive $e^+e^-$ cross sections reveal additional structures whose parameters strongly depend on the observed final states when fitted with Breit--Wigner functions. This puzzling pattern suggests that coupled-channel and threshold effects play an essential role. In this work, we develop a unified coupled-channel framework for the $1^{--}$ resonances in this energy region. The framework incorporates the $S$-wave open-charm channels $D\bar{D}_1$, $D^*\bar{D}_1$, and $D^*\bar{D}_2^*$ constrained by heavy-quark spin symmetry, optional bare poles associated with $ψ(4160)$ and $ψ(4415)$, and final-state interactions in the $Z_c$ channels. We perform simultaneous fits to the BESIII cross sections for $e^+e^-\to J/ψπ^+π^-$, $h_cπ^+π^-$, $D\bar{D}^*π$, $D^*\bar{D}^*π$, $J/ψη$, and $χ_{c0}ω$, together with invariant-mass distributions exhibiting the $Z_c(3900)$ and $Z_c(4020)$ structures. The benchmark models differ in the number of bare seed states and the fitting strategy. We show that even the purely dynamical scheme without bare charmonia captures the gross features of the analyzed distributions. The inclusion of bare compact states improves the fit quality but does not change the conclusion that the measured line shapes can be understood in terms of strong coupled-channel effects with dynamically generated poles. We also discuss possible heavy-quark spin partners of the exotic $1^{--}$ states.