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1. $$X(3872)$$transport in heavy-ion collisions

   https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/s10050-021-00435-6  

   Wu, Biaogang; Du, Xiaojian; Sibila, Matthew; Rapp, Ralf (April 2021, The European Physical Journal A)

   null (Ed.)

   Abstract The production of the $$X(3872)$$ X ( 3872 )  particle in heavy-ion collisions has been contemplated as an alternative probe of its internal structure. To investigate this conjecture, we perform transport calculations of the $$X(3872)$$ X ( 3872 )  through the fireball formed in nuclear collisions at the LHC. Within a kinetic-rate equation approach as previously used for charmonia, the formation and dissociation of the $$X(3872)$$ X ( 3872 )  is controlled by two transport parameters, i.e. , its inelastic reaction rate and thermal-equilibrium limit in the evolving hot QCD medium. While the equilibrium limit is controlled by the charm production cross section in primordial nucleon-nucleon collisions (together with the spectra of charm states in the medium), the structure information is encoded in the reaction rate. We study how different scenarios for the rate affect the centrality dependence and transverse-momentum ( $$p_T$$ p T ) spectra of the $$X(3872)$$ X ( 3872 ) . Larger reaction rates associated with the loosely bound molecule structure imply that it is formed later in the fireball evolution than the tetraquark and thus its final yields are generally smaller by around a factor of two, which is qualitatively different from most coalescence model calculations to date. The $$p_T$$ p T  spectra provide further information as the later decoupling time within the molecular scenario leads to harder spectra caused by the blue-shift from the expanding fireball. 

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2. Forming molecular states with hadronic rescattering

   https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/s10050-021-00650-1  

   Ilten, Philip; Utheim, Marius (January 2022, The European Physical Journal A)

   Abstract A method for modelling the prompt production of molecular states using the hadronic rescattering framework of the general-purpose Pythia event generator is introduced. Production cross sections of possible exotic hadronic molecules via hadronic rescattering at the LHC are calculated for the $$\chi _{c1}(3872)$$ χ c 1 ( 3872 ) resonance, a possible tetraquark state, as well as three possible pentaquark states, $$P_c^+(4312)$$ P c + ( 4312 ) , $$P_c^+(4440)$$ P c + ( 4440 ) , and $$P_c^+(4457)$$ P c + ( 4457 ) . For the $$P_c^+$$ P c + states, the expected cross section from $$\Lambda _b$$ Λ b decays is compared to the hadronic-rescattering production. The $$\chi _{c1}(3872)$$ χ c 1 ( 3872 ) cross section is compared to the fiducial $$\chi _{c1}(3872)$$ χ c 1 ( 3872 ) cross-section measurement by LHCb and found to contribute at a level of $${\mathcal {O}({1\%})}$$ O ( 1 % ) . Finally, the expected yields of $$\mathrm {P_c^{+}}$$ P c + production from hadronic rescattering during Run 3 of LHCb are estimated. The prompt background is found to be significantly larger than the prompt $$\mathrm {P_c^{+}}$$ P c + signal from hadronic rescattering. 

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3. Recombination of $B_c$ mesons in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.109.014906  

   Wu, Biaogang; Tang, Zhanduo; He, Min; Rapp, Ralf (January 2024, Physical Review C)

   High-energy heavy-ion collisions have been suggested as a favorable environment for the production of Bc mesons, due to a much larger abundance of charm and bottom quarks compared to elementary reactions. Motivatedby recent CMS data for Bc production in Pb-Pb(5.02 TeV) collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC),we deploy a previously developed transport approach for charmonia and bottomonia to evaluate the kinetics of Bc mesons throughout the fireball formed in these reactions. The main inputs to our approach are two transport parameters: the Bc’s reaction rate and equilibrium limit. Both quantities are determined by previous calculations via a combination of charm and bottom sectors. In-medium binding energies of Bc mesons are calculated from a thermodynamic T matrix with a lattice-QCD constrained potential, and figure in their inelastic reaction rates. Temperature-dependent equilibrium limits include charm- and bottom-quark fugacities based on their initial production. We compute the centrality dependence of inclusive Bc production and transverse-momentum (pT) spectra using two different recombination models: instantaneous coalescence and resonance recombination. The main uncertainty in the resulting nuclear modification factors, RAA, is currently associated with the Bc cross section in elementary pp collisions, caused by the uncertainty in the branching ratio for the Bc → J/ψμν decay. Our results indicate a large enhancement of the RAA at low pT , with significant regeneration contributions up to pT ~ 20 GeV. Comparisons to CMS data are carried out but firm conclusions will require a more accurate value of the branching ratio, or alternative channels to measure the Bc production in pp collisions. 

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4. Measurement of χc1(3872) production in proton-proton collisions at $$ \sqrt{s} $$ = 8 and 13 TeV

   https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP01(2022)131  

   Aaij, R.; Abdelmotteleb, A. S.; Abellán Beteta, C.; Abudinen Gallego, F. J.; Ackernley, T.; Adeva, B.; Adinolfi, M.; Afsharnia, H.; Agapopoulou, C.; Aidala, C. A.; et al (January 2022, Journal of High Energy Physics)

   A bstract The production cross-section of the χ c 1 (3872) state relative to the ψ (2 S ) meson is measured using proton-proton collision data collected with the LHCb experiment at centre-of-mass energies of $$ \sqrt{s} $$ s = 8 and 13 TeV, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 2.0 and 5.4 fb − 1 , respectively. The two mesons are reconstructed in the J/ψπ + π − final state. The ratios of the prompt and nonprompt χ c 1 (3872) to ψ (2 S ) production cross-sections are measured as a function of transverse momentum, p T , and rapidity, y , of the χ c 1 (3872) and ψ (2 S ) states, in the kinematic range 4 < p T < 20 GeV/ c and 2 . 0 < y < 4 . 5. The prompt ratio is found to increase with p T , independently of y . For the prompt component, the double ratio of the χ c 1 (3872) and ψ (2 S ) production cross-sections between 13 and 8 TeV is observed to be consistent with unity, independent of p T and centre-of-mass energy. 

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5. Search for the $$ {B}_c^{+} $$ → χc1(3872)π+ decay

   https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP06(2025)013  

   Aaij, R; Abdelmotteleb, A_S W; Abellan_Beteta, C; Abudinén, F; Ackernley, T; Adefisoye, A A; Adeva, B; Adinolfi, M; Adlarson, P; Agapopoulou, C; et al (June 2025, Journal of High Energy Physics)

   A<sc>bstract</sc> A search for the decay$$ {B}_c^{+} $$ $B_c^{+}$→ χ_c1(3872)π⁺is reported using proton-proton collision data collected with the LHCb detector between 2011 and 2018 at centre-of-mass energies of 7, 8, and 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9 fb⁻¹. No significant signal is observed. Using the decay$$ {B}_c^{+} $$ $B_c^{+}$→ψ(2S)π⁺as a normalisation channel, an upper limit for the ratio of branching fractions$$ {\mathcal{R}}_{\psi (2S)}^{\chi_{c1}(3872)}=\frac{{\mathcal{B}}_{B_c^{+}\to {\chi}_{c1}(3872){\pi}^{+}}}{{\mathcal{B}}_{B_c^{+}\to \psi (2S){\pi}^{+}}}\times \frac{{\mathcal{B}}_{\chi_{c1}(3872)\to J/\psi {\pi}^{+}{\pi}^{-}}}{{\mathcal{B}}_{\psi (2S)\to J/\psi {\pi}^{+}{\pi}^{-}}}<0.05(0.06), $$ $R_{\psi \left(2S\right)}^{{\chi }_{c1}\left(3872\right)}=\frac{B_{B_c^{+}\to {\chi }_{c1}\left(3872\right){\pi }^{+}}}{B_{B_c^{+}\to \psi \left(2S\right){\pi }^{+}}}\times \frac{B_{{\chi }_{c1}\left(3872\right)\to J/\psi {\pi }^{+}{\pi }^{-}}}{B_{\psi \left(2S\right)\to J/\psi {\pi }^{+}{\pi }^{-}}}<0.05\left(0.06\right),$ is set at the 90 (95)% confidence level. 

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