Survival before annihilation in Psi-prime decays

Abstract

We extend the simple scenario for $\Psi'$ decays suggested a few years ago. The $c\bar c$ pair in the $\Psi'$ does not annihilate directly into three gluons but rather survives before annihilating. An interesting prediction is that a large fraction of all $\Psi'$ decays could originate from the $\Psi' \to \eta_{c} (3\pi)$ channel which we urge experimentalists to identify. Our model solves the problem of the apparent hadronic excess in $\Psi'$ decays as well as the $\rho\pi$ puzzle since, in our view, the two-body decays of the $\Psi'$ are naturally of electromagnetic origin. Further tests of this picture are proposed, e.g. $J/\Psi \to b_{1}\eta$.