D mesons in matter and the in-medium properties of charmonium

Abstract

We study the changes in the partial decay widths of excited charmonium states into $D \bar{D}$, when the D meson mass decreases in nuclear matter, taking the internal structure of the hadrons into account. Calculations within the 3P0 model for $\psi(3686)$ and $\psi(3770)$ imply that naive estimates of the in-medium widths based only on phase space are grossly exaggerated. Due to nodes in the wave functions, these states may even become narrow at high densities, if the D meson mass is decreased by about 200 MeV. For the $\chi$ states, we generally expect stronger modifications of the widths. The relevance of the $\chi$ widths for $J/\psi$ suppression in heavy ion collision is discussed. These phenomena could be explored in experiments at the future accelerator facility at GSI.