English

Three-body molecular states composed of $D^{(*)}$ and two nucleons

High Energy Physics - Phenomenology 2026-05-25 v3 High Energy Physics - Experiment Nuclear Theory

Abstract

We study the three-body systems DNNDNN and DNND^{*}NN within a hadronic molecular framework by combining a realistic nucleon-nucleon interaction with a D()ND^{(*)}N potential constrained by heavy-quark symmetry. The three-body Schr\"odinger equation is solved with the Gaussian Expansion Method, and the analytic structure of the spectrum is investigated using the Complex Scaling Method. We find that the DNNDNN system supports a robust and compact bound state in the I(JP)=12(1)I(J^{P})=\tfrac{1}{2}(1^-) channel over a broad range of cutoff values, even when the corresponding DNDN subsystem is weakly bound or unbound. For DNND^{*}NN, the spin-11 nature of the heavy meson and the associated spin-dependent forces generate a clear spin hierarchy: deeply bound states appear in both 00^- and 22^- channels, while the 11^- channel exhibits a characteristic two-branch pattern with a strongly bound compact branch and a more weakly bound, spatially extended branch. The root-mean-square radii indicate pronounced spatial compression compared with the deuteron scale, highlighting the cooperative roles of realistic NNNN correlations, the D()ND^{(*)}N interactions, and heavy-quark symmetry in forming compact heavy-flavor few-body bound states. No three-body resonances under complex scaling are found in the explored parameter space. Our results provide quantitative benchmarks for future experimental searches for such charmed-meson-nuclear bound states.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2602.19504,
  title  = {Three-body molecular states composed of $D^{(*)}$ and two nucleons},
  author = {Si-Yi Chen and Fei-Yu Chen and Xu-Liang Chen and Lu Meng and Ning Li and Wei Chen},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2602.19504},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

14 pages, 7 figures, 4 tables, accepted for publication in Physical Review D