Observation of $Λ_c^+ \to Λa_0(980)^+$ and Evidence for $Σ(1380)^+$ in $Λ_c^+ \to Λπ^+ η$
Based on $6.1~\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ of $e^+e^-$ annihilation data collected at center-of-mass energies from 4.600 to 4.843 GeV with the BESIII detector at the BEPCII collider, a partial wave analysis of $Λ_c^+\toΛπ^+η$ is performed, and branching fractions and decay asymmetry parameters of intermediate processes are determined. The process $Λ_c^+\toΛa_0(980)^+$ is observed for the first time, and evidence for the pentaquark candidate $Σ(1380)^+$ decaying into $Λπ^+$ is found with statistical significance larger than $3σ$ with mass and width fixed to theoretical predictions. The branching fraction product $\mathcal{B}[Λ_{c}^{+} \to Λa_0(980)^+] \; \mathcal{B}[ a_0(980)^+ \to π^{+}η]$ is determined to be $(1.05 \pm 0.16_{\mathrm{stat}} \pm 0.05_{\mathrm{syst}} \pm 0.07_{\mathrm{ext}})\%$, which is larger than theoretical calculations by 1-2 orders of magnitude. Here the third (external) systematic is from $\mathcal{B}(Λ_{c}^{+} \to Λπ^+ η)$. Finally, we precisely obtain the absolute branching fraction $\mathcal{B}(Λ_{c}^{+} \to Λπ^+ η) = (1.94 \pm 0.07_{\mathrm{stat}} \pm 0.11_{\mathrm{syst}})\%$.