A unified study of the \(B_c\) meson: from spectrum and form factors to weak and radiative decays

Abstract

The $B_c$ meson constitutes a unique system for investigating heavy-hadron dynamics, since it exhibits quarkonium-like bound-state structure while decaying predominantly through weak interactions. In this work, we present a unified study of $B_c$-meson spectroscopy, decay constants, weak decays, radiative transitions, and Regge trajectories within a single framework. The mass spectrum is computed in a screened potential model including relativistic kinetic-energy corrections and spin-dependent interactions, from which we obtain both spin-averaged and spin-resolved states together with the corresponding pseudoscalar and vector decay constants. Using these spectroscopic inputs, we then analyze weak decays within a mass-updated three-point QCD sum-rule framework for transitions to $S$-, $P$-, and $D$-wave charmonium states, as well as to final states containing charmonium and $D^{(*)}_{(s)}$ mesons. In this part of the analysis, the hadronic thresholds, Borel-window prescriptions, Lorentz decompositions, and decay-width expressions of the underlying sum-rule formulations are retained, while the heavy-quark masses are updated to $m_c=1.48~\mathrm{GeV}$ and $m_b=4.90~\mathrm{GeV}$, leading to a controlled refit of the overall normalization rather than a full rederivation of all perturbative and condensate contributions. We further investigate purely leptonic decay widths and radiative $E1$ and $M1$ transitions, and examine the Regge behavior of the resulting spectrum. The present study therefore provides a coherent description of the $B_c$ meson in which the spectroscopic wave functions determine the short-distance couplings that enter both weak and electromagnetic observables, while the Regge analysis serves as a complementary global consistency test of the same dynamical picture.