Masses ofq 2 \bar q 2 states in a Bethe-Salpeter model

Ground-state masses ofq ^{2 –2} states (true and mock baryonium) are investigated in the framework of a Bethe-Salpeter formalism motivated from QCD. The four-particle system is described by pairwise interactions betweenqq orq pairs with a spectator approximation for the non-interacting pair. The quark-quark interactions are Coulomb plus harmonic interactions; the harmonic terms have been modified to produce linear confinement for heavier quarks, in agreement with experimental spectra. The confining interaction is proportional to the strong coupling constant _s. Apart from the quark masses, the confining interaction is characterized by three basic parameters: (i) a universal spring constant ₀; (ii) a constantC ₀/ ₀ ² , which defines the vacuum structure; (iii) a constantA ₀, which provides a smooth transition from quadratic to linear confinement as one goes from light to heavy quark systems. These three constants ₀ = 0.158 GeV;C ₀=0.296;A ₀=0.0283] have been shown to produce excellent fits to all quarkonia states q ,q ,Q ] as well as baryon spectra (qqq); thus our predictions forq ^{2 2} states contain no free parameters. In this model, theL=0 ground states occur in the range 1.8–2 GeV, 2.15–2.3 GeV and 6.72–6.75 GeV foru ^{2 2},s ^{2 2} andc ^{2 2} states, respectively. We discuss the prospects for these states to be seen experimentally. In the case of thes ^{2 2} state, this is likely to have a rather narrow width, and may correspond to theX(2.22 GeV) meson observed in radiative decays of theJ/ meson. Thec ^{2 2} state might also be visible as a resonance with an appreciable width.Research supported in part by the National Science Foundation under grant NSF-PHY 86-06364Research supported in part by the U.S. Department of Energy