Observation of the $χ_{cJ}$ decays into $pK^{-}\barΛη+\mathrm{c.c.}$

Abstract

By analyzing $(2712.4 \pm 14.3) \times 10^{6}$ $ψ(3686)$ events collected with the BESIII detector operating at the BEPCII collider, the decays $χ_{cJ} \to pK^{-}\barΛη+ \mathrm{c.c.}$ ($J=0,1,2$) are observed for the first time, with statistical significances exceeding $5σ$ for all three $χ_{cJ}$ states. The measured branching fractions are $\mathcal{B}(χ_{c0} \to pK^{-}\barΛη+ \mathrm{c.c.}) = (5.3 \pm 0.7 \pm 0.5) \times 10^{-5}$, $\mathcal{B}(χ_{c1} \to pK^{-}\barΛη+ \mathrm{c.c.}) = (9.8 \pm 0.6 \pm 0.6) \times 10^{-5}$, and $\mathcal{B}(χ_{c2} \to pK^{-}\barΛη+ \mathrm{c.c.}) = (9.3 \pm 0.6 \pm 0.6) \times 10^{-5}$, where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second are systematic. Structures consistent with the known hyperon resonances $Λ(1520)$ and $\barΛ(1690)$ are seen in the $pK^{-}$ and $\barΛη$ invariant mass spectra, respectively. The reported branching fractions include both resonant and non-resonant contributions. These results provide new experimental information on hadronic decays of $P$-wave charmonium states and contribute to the understanding of baryon production and hadronization dynamics in the nonperturbative QCD regime.