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Abstract Quantum chromodynamics, the theory of the strong force, describes interactions of coloured quarks and gluons and the formation of hadronic matter. Conventional hadronic matter consists of baryons and mesons made of three quarks and quark-antiquark pairs, respectively. Particles with an alternative quark content are known as exotic states. Here a study is reported of an exotic narrow state in the D 0 D 0 π + mass spectrum just below the D *+ D 0 mass threshold produced in proton-proton collisions collected with the LHCb detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The state is consistent with the ground isoscalar $${{{{{{\rm{T}}}}}}}_{{{{{{\rm{c}}}}}}{{{{{\rm{c}}}}}}}^{+}$$ T c c + tetraquark with a quark content of $${{{{{\rm{c}}}}}}{{{{{\rm{c}}}}}}\overline{{{{{{\rm{u}}}}}}}\overline{{{{{{\rm{d}}}}}}}$$ c c u ¯ d ¯ and spin-parity quantum numbers J P  = 1 + . Study of the DD mass spectra disfavours interpretation of the resonance as the isovector state. The decay structure via intermediate off-shell D *+ mesons is consistent with the observed D 0 π + mass distribution. To analyse the mass of the resonance and its coupling to the D * D system, a dedicated model is developed under the assumption of an isoscalar axial-vector $${{{{{{\rm{T}}}}}}}_{{{{{{\rm{c}}}}}}{{{{{\rm{c}}}}}}}^{+}$$ T c c + state decaying to the D * D channel. Using this model, resonance parameters including the pole position, scattering length, effective range and compositeness are determined to reveal important information about the nature of the $${{{{{{\rm{T}}}}}}}_{{{{{{\rm{c}}}}}}{{{{{\rm{c}}}}}}}^{+}$$ T c c + state. In addition, an unexpected dependence of the production rate on track multiplicity is observed. 

Abstract Conventional, hadronic matter consists of baryons and mesons made of three quarks and a quark–antiquark pair, respectively 1,2 . Here, we report the observation of a hadronic state containing four quarks in the Large Hadron Collider beauty experiment. This so-called tetraquark contains two charm quarks, a $$\overline{{{{{u}}}}}$$ u ¯ and a $$\overline{{{{{d}}}}}$$ d ¯ quark. This exotic state has a mass of approximately 3,875 MeV and manifests as a narrow peak in the mass spectrum of D 0 D 0 π + mesons just below the D *+ D 0 mass threshold. The near-threshold mass together with the narrow width reveals the resonance nature of the state. 

Abstract A search is performed for massive long-lived particles (LLPs) decaying semileptonically into a muon and two quarks. Two kinds of LLP production processes were considered. In the first, a Higgs-like boson with mass from 30 to 200 $$\text {\,GeV\!/}c^2$$ \,GeV\!/ c 2 is produced by gluon fusion and decays into two LLPs. The analysis covers LLP mass values from 10 $$\text {\,GeV\!/}c^2$$ \,GeV\!/ c 2 up to about one half the Higgs-like boson mass. The second LLP production mode is directly from quark interactions, with LLP masses from 10 to 90 $$\text {\,GeV\!/}c^2$$ \,GeV\!/ c 2 . The LLP lifetimes considered range from 5 to 200 ps. This study uses LHCb data collected from proton-proton collisions at $$\sqrt{s} = 13\text {\,TeV} $$ s = 13 \,TeV , corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.4 $$\text {\,fb} ^{-1}$$ \,fb - 1 . No evidence of these long-lived states has been observed, and upper limits on the production cross-section times branching ratio have been set for each model considered. 

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. 

A bstract Using proton-proton collision data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9 fb − 1 collected with the LHCb detector, seven decay modes of the $$ {\mathrm{B}}_{\mathrm{c}}^{+} $$ B c + meson into a J / ψ or ψ(2S) meson and three charged hadrons, kaons or pions, are studied. The decays $$ {\mathrm{B}}_{\mathrm{c}}^{+} $$ B c + → (ψ(2S) → J / ψπ + π − )π + , $$ {\mathrm{B}}_{\mathrm{c}}^{+} $$ B c + → ψ(2S)π + π − π + , $$ {\mathrm{B}}_{\mathrm{c}}^{+} $$ B c + → J / ψK + π − π + and $$ {\mathrm{B}}_{\mathrm{c}}^{+} $$ B c + → J / ψK + K − K + are observed for the first time, and evidence for the $$ {\mathrm{B}}_{\mathrm{c}}^{+} $$ B c + → ψ(2S)K + K − π + , decay is found, where J / ψ and ψ(2S) mesons are reconstructed in their dimuon decay modes. The ratios of branching fractions between the different $$ {\mathrm{B}}_{\mathrm{c}}^{+} $$ B c + decays are reported as well as the fractions of the decays proceeding via intermediate resonances. The results largely support the factorisation approach used for a theoretical description of the studied decays.