ON THE ABSENCE OF PENTAQUARK STATES FROM DYNAMICS IN STRONGLY COUPLED LATTICE QCD

Abstract

We consider an imaginary time functional integral formulation of a two-flavor, 3+1 lattice QCD model with Wilson's action and in the strong coupling regime (with a small hopping parameter, κ > 0, and a much smaller plaquette coupling, [Formula: see text], so that the quarks and glueballs are heavy). The model has local SU (3)c gauge and global SU (2)f flavor symmetries, and incorporates the corresponding part of the eightfold way particles: baryons (mesons) of asymptotic mass ≈-3 ln κ(≈-2 ln κ). We search for pentaquark states as meson–baryon bound states in the energy–momentum spectrum of the model, using a lattice Bethe–Salpeter equation. This equation is solved within a ladder approximation, given by the lowest nonvanishing order in κ and β of the Bethe–Salpeter kernel. It includes order κ2 contributions with a [Formula: see text] exchange potential together with a contribution that is a local-in-space, energy-dependent potential. The attractive or repulsive nature of the exchange interaction depends on the spin of the meson–baryon states. The Bethe–Salpeter equation presents integrable singularities, forcing the couplings to be above a threshold value for the meson and the baryon to bind in a pentaquark. We analyzed all the total isospin sectors, I = 1/2, 3/2, 5/2, for the system. For all I, the net attraction resulting from the two sources of interaction is not strong enough for the meson and the baryon to bind. Thus, within our approximation, these pentaquark states are not present up to near the free meson–baryon energy threshold of ≈-5 ln κ. This result is to be contrasted with the spinless case for which our method detects meson–baryon bound states, as well as for Yukawa effective baryon and meson field models. A physical interpretation of our results emerges from an approximate correspondence between meson–baryon bound states and negative energy states of a one-particle lattice Schrödinger Hamiltonian.