Scalars in the hadron world: the Higgs sector of the strong interaction

Abstract

Scalar mesons are a key expression of the strong physics regime of QCD and the role condensates, particularly $<q{\bar q}>$, play in breaking chiral symmetry. What new insights have been provided by recent experiments on $D, D_s$ and $J/\psi$ decays to light hadrons is discussed. We need to establish whether all the claimed scalars $\sigma$, $\kappa$, $f_0(1370)$, etc., really exist and with what parameters before we can meaningfully speculate further about which is transiently ${\bar q}q$, ${\bar{qq}} qq$, multi-meson molecule or largely glue.