Model-independent Study of Magnetic Dipole Transitions in Quarkonium

Abstract

We study magnetic dipole (M1) transitions between two quarkonia in the framework of non-relativistic effective field theories of QCD. Relativistic corrections of relative order v^2 are investigated in a systematic fashion. Non-perturbative corrections due to color-octet effects are considered for the first time and shown to vanish at leading order. Exact, all order expressions for the relevant 1/m and 1/m^2 operators are derived. The results allow us to scrutinize several potential model claims. In particular, we show that QCD excludes both contributions to the anomalous magnetic moment of the quarkonium induced by low-energy fluctuations and contributions to the magnetic dipole operators of the type induced by a scalar potential. Finally, we apply our results to the transitions J/psi -> eta_c gamma, Upsilon(1S) -> eta_b gamma, Upsilon(2S) -> eta_b(2S) gamma, Upsilon(2S) -> eta_b gamma, eta_b(2S) -> Upsilon(1S) gamma, h_b(1P) -> chi_{b0,1}(1P) gamma and chi_{b2}(1P) -> h_b(1P) gamma by assuming these quarkonium states in the weak-coupling regime. Our analysis shows that the J/psi -> eta_c gamma width is consistent with a weak-coupling treatment of the charmonium ground state, while such a treatment for the hindered transition Upsilon(2S) -> eta_b gamma appears difficult to accommodate within the CLEO III upper limit.