arXiv subjects

Juan Nieves

Publications and source records attributed to Juan Nieves.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

A femtoscopic tale of two $C$-parities: the $Z_c(3900)$ and the isovector partner of the $X(3872)$

Understanding the nature of the exotic $Z_c(3900)$ and $Z_{cs}(3985)$ states, and searching for the predicted isovector partner $W_{c1}$ of the $X(3872)$, remain central challenges in exotic-hadron spectroscopy. We investigate the femtoscopic correlation functions (CFs) of the $D^{(\ast)0}D_{(s)}^{(\ast)-}$ systems. Since these charm-meson--antimeson pairs are not $G$-parity eigenstates, their CFs contain contributions from both the $C$-odd and $C$-even sectors, providing direct access to the dynamics underlying the $Z_c$, $Z_{cs}$, and the predicted isovector exotic $W_{c1}$. Within a heavy-quark-spin-symmetric coupled-channel framework, we show that the $C$-even admixture enhances the low-momentum CFs by more than $2.5\sigma$ in the vicinity of their thresholds. Free from Coulomb distortions and accessible in high-multiplicity $pp$ collisions at the LHC, these channels offer the first direct femtoscopic probe of the isovector $C$-even sector and of the elusive $W_{c1}$ state.

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arXiv2026

Coulomb Effects in Momentum-Space Femtoscopy: A Case Study of the $\bar{K}\Omega$ System

We present a momentum-space framework for the consistent treatment of Coulomb interactions in femtoscopic correlation functions based on a modified Vincent--Phatak method that is more amenable to numerical implementation. The formalism provides a practical approach to incorporating Coulomb effects at the short distances relevant for femtoscopy within the Lippmann--Schwinger equation, while preserving a unified treatment of the strong interaction. As an application, we study the $S=-4$ pseudoscalar--baryon decuplet interaction in the $\bar{K}\Omega$ system and present predictions for the singly and doubly negatively charged channels, $\bar{K}^0\Omega^-$ and $K^-\Omega^-$. As an additional validation of the formalism, we have also applied it to the well-studied $pp$ system. We further assess the limitations of the asymptotic wave-function approximation and quantify corrections accounting for the short-distance structure of the interaction potential. We introduce a phenomenological parameter that effectively absorbs contributions from both the finite source size and the off-shell structure of the interaction, the latter being one of the main obstacles to extracting detailed information on hadron--hadron interactions from femtoscopic measurements in a model-independent way.

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arXiv2026

Exclusive Hadron Observables in Neutrino Induced $2p2h$ Multinucleon Knockout

We explore the combined lepton and hadron kinematic observables from the exclusive Valencia $2p2h$ model. We present variables of interest which are available due to the exclusive kinematics and compare them with the democratically distributed outgoing nucleon kinematics as currently treated in neutrino event generators. We also show the effect of nuclear re-scattering based on the NEUT semi classical cascade. We comment on the observability of these variables in current and future long baseline neutrino detectors.

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arXiv2026

Exotic hadrons associated with $b$-quark

Compared to charmonium-like states, exotic hadrons associated with $b$-quark offer distinct advantages for exploring the nature of multiquark phenomena and the dynamics of the strong interaction. Due to the heavier bottom quark mass, theoretical calculations, particularly those based on effective field theories and potential models, tend to be more reliable and under better control in the bottomonium sector. With its clean $e^+e^-$ collision environment and high luminosity, the Belle and Belle II experiments are ideally suited to explore these exotic hadrons associated with $b$-quark, including $Z_b$, $X_b$, and $Y_b$ states, and charmonium-like states in $B$ decays. Utilizing the large proton--proton collision dataset, the LHCb experiment has conducted extensive investigations of heavy-flavor multiquark states through $B$ and $\Lambda_b$ decay channels. The relevant phenomenological interpretations are also reviewed.

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arXiv2026

Scattering and Femtoscopic Correlation Functions of the $\Sigma_c^{++}\pi^{+}$, $\Sigma_c^{0}\pi^{-}$ and $\Sigma_b^{+}\pi^{+}$ Systems

We present predictions for scattering observables and femtoscopic correlation functions (CFs) of the $I=2$ $\Sigma_c^{++}\pi^{+}$, $\Sigma_c^{0}\pi^{-}$ systems and its heavy-flavor counterpart $\Sigma_b^{+}\pi^{+}$. In both heavy-quark sectors, the strong interaction is formulated within two distinct theoretical frameworks, each constrained to reproduce the lowest-lying odd-parity isoscalar spin-$1/2$ resonances, $\Lambda_c(2595)$ and $\Lambda_b(5912)$, respectively. While the $\Sigma_c^{0}\pi^{-}$ pair is governed solely by the strong interaction, electrostatic contributions are included in the other two channels involving charged particles through relativistic Coulomb wave functions. We show that the differences observed in the scattering observables between the two strong-interaction models arise mainly from the specific ultraviolet regularization schemes employed. The inclusion of Coulomb effects induces only a very small increase in both the scattering length and the effective range. The resulting CFs in the charm and bottom sectors display analogous global features, in agreement with expectations from heavy-quark flavor symmetry. Both, the $\Sigma_c^{++}\pi^+$ and $\Sigma_b^{+}\pi^{+}$ CFs, when computed including only the strong interaction, exhibits substantial discriminating power among the different models. However, once Coulomb effects are incorporated, the CFs become largely affected by the repulsive electrostatic interaction, which diminishes their sensitivity to the details of the underlying strong dynamics, thereby reducing the capability to differentiate between theoretical descriptions. Thus, the $\Sigma_c^{0}\pi^{-}$ CF-being free from Coulomb effects-provides the most suitable observable for constraining the strong dynamics of the isotensor $\Sigma_c\pi$ system.

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arXiv2025

Contact potentials in presence of a regular finite-range interaction using dimensional regularization and the $N/D$ method

We solve the Lippman-Schwinger equation (LSE) with a kernel that includes a regular finite-range potential and additional contact terms with derivatives. We employ distorted wave theory and dimensional regularization, as proposed in Physics Letters B 568 (2003) 109. We analyze the spin singlet nucleon-nucleon $S-$wave as case of study, with the regular one-pion exchange (OPE) potential in this partial wave and up to ${\cal O}(Q^6)$ (six derivatives) contact interactions. We discuss in detail the renormalization of the LSE, and show that the scattering amplitude solution of the LSE fulfills exact elastic unitarity and inherits the left-hand cut of the long-distance OPE amplitude. Furthermore, we proof that the LSE amplitude coincides with that obtained from the exact $N/D$ calculation, with the appropriate number and typology of subtractions to reproduce the effective range parameters taken as input to renormalize the LSE amplitude. The generalization to higher number of derivatives is straightforward.

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arXiv2025

Melting down a tetraquark: $D^{\ast}D^{(\ast)}$ interactions and $T_{cc}(3875)^+$ in a hot environment

We discuss the modification of the properties of the tetraquark-like $T_{cc}(3875)^+$ and its heavy quark spin partner, $T_{cc}(4016)^{*+}$ immersed in a hot bath of pions. We consider these exotic states as purely isoscalar $DD^\ast$ and $D^\ast D^\ast$ $S$-wave bound states, respectively. Finite temperature effects are incorporated through the $D$ and $D^\ast$ state-of-the-art thermal spectral functions calculated in [G. Montana et al., Phys. Rev. D, 102 (2020) 096020], using the imaginary-time formalism. We find important modifications of the $DD^\ast$ and $D^\ast D^\ast$ scattering amplitudes already for $T=80$ MeV, and show that the hot-bath lineshapes of these tetraquark-like states strongly depend on their Weinberg molecular content. We find that the thermal $T_{cc}(3875)^+$ and $T_{cc}(4016)^{*+}$ spectral functions change more rapidly with temperature for high molecular probabilities $P_0$. For large values of $P_0$, the widths significantly increase with temperature, leading to the melting of these exotic states for temperatures larger than 80 MeV. For small molecular components, the changes in the spectral functions of these states due to temperature become significantly less important. All these results show that any future experimental determination of the $D^{(\ast)}D^*$ scattering amplitudes at finite temperature will provide valuable insights into the molecular content of the $T_{cc}(3875)^+$ and $T_{cc}(4016)^{*+}$ exotics.

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arXiv2025

The role of chiral symmetry and the non-ordinary $κ/K^*_0(700)$ nature in $π^\pm K_S$ femtoscopic correlations

We show that the use of realistic $πK$ interactions, obtained from a dispersive analysis of scattering data, as well as relativistic corrections, are essential to describe recently observed $π^\pm K_S$ femtoscopic correlations. We demonstrate that the spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking dynamics and the non-ordinary features of the $κ/K^*_0(700)$ resonance, together with large cancellations between isospin channels, produce a large suppression of $π^\pm K_S$ femtoscopic correlations compared to widely used models. Within an improved version of the standard on-shell factorization formalism, we illustrate that compensating for this interaction suppression leads to source radii smaller than 1 fm, contrary to usual expectations, as well as larger correlation strengths. The relation between these two parameters cannot be accommodated within naive models describing the nature of the resonances. This may raise concerns about the applicability of popular but too simple approaches for systems with light mesons. However, the correlation-suppression effects we demonstrate here will be relevant in any formalism, and substantial corrections may be expected for other femtoscopic systems involving light mesons.

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arXiv2025

$P$-wave charmonium contribution to hidden-charm states from reanalysis of lattice QCD data

We reanalyze, considering the contribution of $P$-wave charmonia, lattice data for the $D \bar{D}$-$D_s\bar{D}_s$ coupled-channel of S. Prelovsek et al. [JHEP 06, 035 (2021)] and $D\bar{D}^*$ systems of S. Prelovsek et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 192001 (2013)] with $m_π\simeq 280$ and $266$ MeV, and $L=24a/32a$ ($a\simeq 0.09$ fm) and $L=16a$ ($a\simeq0.1239(13)$ fm), respectively. The hidden-charm states with $J^{PC}=0^{++}$, $1^{++}$, and $2^{++}$ quantum numbers are then searched for. For $0^{++}$, the analysis reveals three poles in the $D\bar{D}$-$D_s\bar{D}_s$ coupled-channel amplitude, corresponding to three states. Two of these poles, located near the $D\bar{D}$ and $D_s\bar{D}_s$ thresholds, can be interpreted as mostly molecular states. A third pole above the $D_s\bar{D}_s$ threshold is originated from the $P$-wave $χ_{c0}(2P)$ charmonium state. The number of poles found in the $D\bar D$-$D_s \bar D_s$ system is the same as that found in the original lattice analysis though the position of the third pole changes sizeably. In the $1^{++}$ sector, we find two poles in the complex energy plane. The first one is related to the molecular $X(3872)$ state, with a compositeness exceeding $90\%$, while the second one, stemming from the $χ_{c1}(2P)$ charmonium, appears above the $D\bar{D}^*$ threshold and it likely corresponds to the recently discovered $χ_{c1}(4010)$ state. In the $2^{++}$ sector, we also report two poles and find that the dressed $χ_{c2}(2P)$ is lighter than the $D^*\bar{D}^*$ molecular state, with the dynamics of the latter closely related to that of the heavy-quark spin-symmetry partner of the $X(3872)$. Our exploratory study of the $1^{++}$ and $2^{++}$ sectors offers valuable insights into their dynamics, but given that the fits that we carry out are underconstrained, more lattice data are required to draw robust conclusions.

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arXiv2025

Charge-conjugation asymmetry and molecular content: the $D_{s0}^\ast(2317)^\pm$ in matter

We analyze the modifications that a dense nuclear medium induces in the $D_{s0}^\ast(2317)^\pm$ and $D_{s1}(2460)^\pm$. In the vacuum, we consider them as isoscalar $D^{(*)}K$ and $\overline{D}{}^{(*)}\overline{K}$ $S$-wave bound states, which are dynamically generated from effective interactions that lead to different Weinberg compositeness scenarios. Matter effects are incorporated through the two-meson loop functions, taking into account the self energies that the $D^{(*)}$, $\overline{D}{}^{(*)}$, $K$, and $\overline{K}$ develop when embedded in a nuclear medium. Although particle-antiparticle [$D^{(\ast)}_{s0,s1}(2317,2460)^+$ versus $D^{(\ast)}_{s0,s1}(2317,2460)^-$] lineshapes are the same in vacuum, we find extremely different density patterns in matter. This charge-conjugation asymmetry mainly stems from the very different kaon and antikaon interaction with the nucleons of the dense medium. We show that the in-medium lineshapes found for these resonances strongly depend on their $D^{(*)}K$/$\overline{D}{}^{(*)}\overline{K}$ molecular content, and discuss how this novel feature can be used to better determine/constrain the inner structure of these exotic states.

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arXiv2025

On the determination of the $D$ meson width in the nuclear medium with the transparency ratio

We have studied the feasibility of the experimental determination of the width of a $D$ meson in a nuclear medium by using the method of the nuclear transparency. The cross section for inclusive production of a $D^+$ in different nuclei is evaluated, taking care of the $D^+$ absorption in the nucleus, or equivalently, the survival probability of the $D^+$ in its way out of the nucleus from the point of production. We use present values of the in medium width of $D$ mesons and calculate ratios of the cross sections for different nuclei to the $^{12} \text{C} $ nucleus as reference. We find ratios of the order of $0.6$ for heavy nuclei, a large deviation from unity, which indicates that the method proposed is adequate to measure this relevant magnitude, so far only known theoretically.

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arXiv2024

The $Λ_c\to Λ\, l^+ν_\ell$ weak decay including new physics

We investigate the $Λ_c \to Λ\ell^{+} ν_\ell$ decay with a focus on potential new physics (NP) effects in the $\ell = μ$ channel. We employ an effective Hamiltonian within the framework of the Standard Model Effective Field Theory (SMEFT) to consider generalized dimension-6 semileptonic $c\to s$ operators of scalar, pseudoscalar, vector, axial-vector and tensor types. We rely on Lattice QCD (LQCD) for the hadronic transition form factors, using heavy quark spin symmetry (HQSS) to determine those that have not yet been obtained on the lattice. Uncertainties due to the truncation of the NP Hamiltonian and different implementations of HQSS are taken into account. As a result, we unravel the NP discovery potential of the $Λ_c\to Λ$ semileptonic decay in different observables. Our findings indicate high sensitivity to NP in lepton flavour universality ratios, probing multi-TeV scales in some cases. On the theoretical side, we identify LQCD uncertainties in axial and vector form factors as critical for improving NP sensitivity, alongside better SMEFT uncertainty estimations.

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arXiv2024

Study of possible $DND^*$ bound states

We start from a recently favored picture in which the $Λ_c(2940)$ and $Λ_c(2910)$ correspond mostly to $ND^*$ bound states with $J^P = 1/2^-,\, 3/2^-$ and then add a $D$ as a third particle, looking for the possible binding of the $DND^*$ three body system within the framework of the Fixed Center Approximation. We find that the system is bound with respect to the corresponding $Λ_c^* D$ threshold with a binding of about $60$ MeV and a width of about $90$ MeV. Alternatively we assume a cluster of $ND$ and a $D^*$ meson interacting with the cluster and we find similar results. The observation of these states of $J^P = 1/2^+,\, 3/2^+$ would provide new and valuable information concerning the $DN$ and $D^* N$ interaction, an issue of current debate.

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arXiv2023

Study of new physics effects in $\bar B_s\to D^{(*)}_sτ^-\barν_τ$ semileptonic decays using lattice QCD form factors and heavy quark effective theory

We benefit from the lattice QCD determination by the HPQCD of the Standard Model (SM) form factors for the $\bar B_s\to D_s$ [Phys. Rev. D 101, 074513 (2020)] and the SM and tensor ones for the $\bar B_s\to D_s^{*}$ (arXiv:2304.03137 [hep-lat]) semileptonic decays, and the heavy quark effective theory (HQET) relations for the analogous $B\to D^{(*)}$ decays obtained by F.U. Bernlochner et al. in Phys. Rev. D 95, 115008 (2017), to extract the leading and sub-leading Isgur-Wise functions for the $\bar B_s\to D_s^{(*)}$ decays. Further use of the HQET relations allows us to evaluate the corresponding scalar, pseudoscalar and tensor form factors needed for a phenomenological study of new physics (NP) effects on the $\bar B_s\to D_s^{(*)}$ semileptonic decay. At present, the experimental values for the ratios ${\cal R}_{D^{(*)}}=Γ[\bar B\to D^{(*)}τ^-\barν_τ]/Γ[\bar B\to D^{(*)}e^-(μ^-)\barν_{e(μ)}]$ are the best signal in favor of lepton flavor universality violation (LFUV) seen in charged current (CC) $b\to c$ decays. In this work we conduct a study of NP effects on the $\bar B_s\to D_s^{(*)}τ^-\barν_τ$ semileptonic decays by comparing tau spin, angular and spin-angular asymmetry distributions obtained within the SM and three different NP scenarios. As expected from SU(3) light-flavor symmetry, we get results close to the ones found in a similar analysis of the $\bar B\to D^{(*)}$ case. The measurement of the $\bar B_s\to D_s^{(*)}\ell\barν_\ell$ semileptonic decays, which is within reach of present experiments, could then be of relevance in helping to establish or rule out LFUV in CC $b\to c$ transitions.

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arXiv2023

Properties of the $T_{cc}(3875)^+$ and the $T_{\bar c \bar c}(3875)^-$ states in nuclear matter

Since its first detection, the interesting properties of the $T_{cc}(3875)^+$ have made it to be one of the most prominent tetraquark-like states up to date. In this work we present a joint analysis of the $T_{cc}^+$ and its charge-conjugated partner in a dense nuclear medium. We start by considering both states as purely isoscalar $D^{\ast} D$ and $\overline{D}{}^{\ast} \overline{D}$ $S$-wave bound states, respectively. We use previous results for the in-medium $D$, $\overline{D}$, $D^\ast$ and $\overline{D}{}^\ast$ spectral functions to determine the modified two-meson amplitudes. We find important changes in the in-medium mass and width of both tetraquark-like resonances, which become more visible when increasing the nuclear density and molecular probabilities. The experimental confirmation of the found distinctive patterns will support the existence of molecular components in the $T_{cc}^+$ and $T_{\bar c\bar c}^-$ wave functions.

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arXiv2023

Properties of the $T_{cc}(3875)^+$ and $T_{\bar c\bar c}(3875)^-$ (and their heavy-quark spin partners) in nuclear matter

We discuss the modification of the properties of the tetraquark-like $T_{cc}(3875)^+$ and $T_{\bar c\bar c}(3875)^-$ states in dense nuclear matter. We consider the $T_{cc}^+$ and $T_{\bar c\bar c}^-$ in vacuum as purely isoscalar $D^{\ast} D$ and $\overline{D}{}^{\ast} \overline{D}$ $S$-wave bound states, respectively, dynamically generated from a heavy-quark effective interaction between the charmed mesons. We compute the $D$, $\overline{D}$, $D^*$, and $\overline{D}{}^{*}$ spectral functions embedded in a nuclear medium and use them to determine the corresponding $T_{cc}^+$ and $T_{\bar c\bar c}^-$ self energies and spectral functions. We find important modifications of the $D^{\ast} D$ and $\overline{D}{}^{\ast} \overline{D}$ scattering amplitudes and of the pole position of these exotic states already for $ρ_0/2$, with $ρ_0$ the normal nuclear density. We also discuss the dependence of these results on the $D^{\ast} D$ ($\overline{D}{}^{\ast} \overline{D}$) molecular component in the $T_{cc}^+$ ($T_{\bar c\bar c}^-$ ) wave-function. Owing to the different nature of the $D^{(*)}N$ and $\overline{D}{}^{(*)}N$ interactions, we find characteristic changes of the in-medium properties of the $T_{cc}(3875)^+$ and $T_{\bar c\bar c}(3875)^-$, which become increasingly visible as the density increases. The experimental confirmation of the found distinctive density-pattern will give support to the molecular picture of these tetraquark-like states, since in the case they were colourless compact quark structures the density behaviour of their respective nuclear medium spectral functions would likely be similar. Finally, we perform similar analyses for the isoscalar $J^P=1^+$ heavy-quark spin symmetry partners of the $T_{cc}^+$ ($T_{cc}^{*+}$) and the $T_{\bar c\bar c}^-$ ($T_{\bar c\bar c}^{*-}$) by considering the $D^{*0}D^{*+}$ and $\overline{D}{}^{*0} D^{*-}$ scattering $T-$matrices.

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arXiv2023

Role of left-hand cut contributions on pole extractions from lattice data: Case study for $T_{cc}(3875)^+$

We discuss recent lattice data for the $T_{cc}(3875)^+$ state to stress, for the first time, a potentially strong impact of left-hand cuts from the one-pion exchange on the pole extraction for near-threshold exotic states. In particular, if the left-hand cut is located close to the two-particle threshold, which happens naturally in the $DD^*$ system for the pion mass exceeding its physical value, the effective-range expansion is valid only in a very limited energy range up to the cut and as such is of little use to reliably extract the poles. Then, an accurate extraction of the pole locations requires the one-pion exchange to be implemented explicitly into the scattering amplitudes. Our findings are general and potentially relevant for a wide class of hadronic near-threshold states.

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arXiv2023

Femtoscopic signatures of the lightest S-wave scalar open-charm mesons

We predict femtoscopy correlation functions for $S$--wave $D_{(s)}ϕ$ pairs of lightest pseudoscalar open charm mesons and Goldstone bosons from next-to-leading order unitarized heavy-meson chiral perturbation theory amplitudes. The effect of the two-state structure around $2300\,\text{MeV}$ can be clearly seen in the $(S,I)=(0,1/2)$ $Dπ$, $Dη$, $D_s \overline{K}$ correlation functions, while in the scalar-strange $(1,0)$ sector, the $D^\ast_{s0}(2317)^{\pm}$ state lying below the $DK$ threshold produces a depletion of the correlation function near threshold. These exotic states owe their existence to the nonperturbative dynamics of Goldstone-boson scattering off $D_{(s)}$. The predicted correlation functions could be experimentally measured and will shed light into the hadron spectrum confirming that it should be viewed as more than a collection of quark model states.

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