Observation of χ_{cJ} decaying into the p\bar{p}K^{+}K^{-} final state

Abstract

First measurements of the decays of the three $χ_{cJ}$ states to $p\bar{p}K^{+}K^{-}$ final states are presented. Intermediate $ϕ\to K^{+}K^{-}$ and $Λ(1520)\to pK^{-}$ resonance states are observed, and branching fractions for $χ_{cJ}\to \bar{p}K^{+}Λ(1520)$, $Λ(1520) \barΛ(1520)$, and $ϕp\bar{p}$ are reported. We also measure branching fractions for direct $χ_{cJ}\to p\bar{p} K^{+}K^{-}$ decays. These are first observations of $χ_{cJ}$ decays to unstable baryon resonances and provide useful information about the $χ_{cJ}$ states. The experiment uses samples of $χ_{cJ}$ mesons produced via radiative transitions from 106 million $ψ^{\prime}$ mesons collected in the BESIII detector at the BEPCII $e^+e^-$ collider.