Looking for Exotic Multiquark States in Nonleptonic B Decays

Abstract

Recent data on inclusive B decays into charmonium states taken by the CLEO collaboration suggest that a sizeable fraction of the nonleptonic decays may consist of the $J/\psi \Lambda \overline p$ three body final state, corresponding to a distinct enhancement in the inclusive $J/\psi$ momentum distribution. The kinematical boundary of this structure corresponds to the case where the $J/\psi$ recoils nearly monoenergetically in the B rest system against a partner having mass of $\simeq$ 2 GeV. This may allow the observation of a $\Lambda-\overline p $ bound state near or just below threshold; i.e., strange baryonium, even if the production rate is small. Using a phase space approach to the B meson decay, we study the $J/\psi$ momentum distribution and the effect of baryonium formation. We also discuss the possible observation of pentaquarks and hadronically-bound $J/\psi$ by the observation of monoenergetic baryons in these decays.