# Partial widths for the decays 𝜂⁢(1295)→𝛾⁢𝛾 and 𝜂⁢(1440)→𝛾⁢𝛾

## Abstract

We discuss $`\gamma \gamma `$ partial widths of pseudoscalar/isoscalar mesons $`\eta (M)`$ in the mass region $`M10001500`$ MeV. The transition amplitudes $`\eta (1295)\gamma \gamma `$ and $`\eta (1440)\gamma \gamma `$ are studied within an assumption that the decaying mesons are the members of the first radial excitation nonet $`2^1S_0q\overline{q}`$. The calculations show that partial widths being of the order of 0.1 keV are dominantly due to the $`n\overline{n}`$ meson component while the contribution of the $`s\overline{s}`$ component is small.

The two–photon decays of the pseudoscalar mesons served a great deal of information on the structure of the basic $`1^1S_0q\overline{q}`$ nonet. The value of the partial width $`\pi ^0\gamma \gamma `$ gave one of the first experimental evidence for colour structure of quarks. The decays $`\eta \gamma \gamma `$ and $`\eta ^{}\gamma \gamma `$ provide an information on the quark/gluon content of these mesons.

The partial $`\gamma \gamma `$-widths of pseudoscalar mesons belonging to the basic nonet $`1^1S_0q\overline{q}`$ are relatively large: $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\pi ^0\gamma \gamma }=7.2\pm 0.5`$ eV, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\eta \gamma \gamma }=0.46\pm 0.04`$ keV, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\eta ^{}\gamma \gamma }=4.27\pm 0.19`$ keV  thus giving a possibility to mesure not only partial widths but transition form factors $`\pi ^0\gamma ^{}(Q^2)\gamma `$, $`\eta \gamma ^{}(Q^2)\gamma `$, $`\eta ^{}\gamma ^{}(Q^2)\gamma `$ over a broad range of photon virtualities, $`Q^220`$ GeV<sup>2</sup> . These data made it possible :   
(i) to restore the wave functions of $`\eta `$ and $`\eta ^{}`$ (for both $`n\overline{n}`$ and $`s\overline{s}`$ components),   
(ii) to estimate the gluonium admixture in $`\eta `$ and $`\eta ^{}`$,   
(iii) to restore the vertex function for the transition $`\gamma q\overline{q}`$ (or photon wave function) as a function of the $`q\overline{q}`$ invariant mass.

The same method as used in  for the analysis of the basic pseudoscalar mesons can be applied for a study of $`\gamma \gamma `$ decays of the first radial excitation mesons: in the present paper we discuss these processes.

The search for exotics in the pseudoscalar/isoscalar sector ultimately requires the investigation of $`\eta `$-mesons of the $`2^1S_0q\overline{q}`$ nonet: in the framework of this investigation program, here we calculate partial widths $`\eta (1295)\gamma \gamma `$ and $`\eta (1440)\gamma \gamma `$ under the assumption that the mesons $`\eta (1295)`$ and $`\eta (1440)`$ are members of the $`2^1S_0q\overline{q}`$ nonet. The state $`\eta (1440)`$ (old name is $`E(1407)`$ ) attracts our special attention: it is considered during long time as a state with possible rich gluonic component.

Transition form factors and partial widths. A partial width for the decay $`\eta (M)\gamma \gamma `$ is determined as $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\eta (M)\gamma \gamma }=\pi \alpha ^2M^3F_{\eta (M)\gamma \gamma }^2(0)/4`$, where $`M(M)`$ is the mass of the $`\eta `$-meson, $`\alpha =1/137`$, and $`F_{\eta (M)\gamma \gamma }(0)`$ is the form factor of the considered decay.

In Ref. , the form factor $`F_{\eta \gamma ^{}\gamma }(Q^2)`$ was calculated for the virtual photon $`\gamma ^{}(Q^2)`$; the decay form factor is given by the limit $`Q^20`$. The decay form factor $`F_{\eta (M)\gamma \gamma }(0)`$ reads :

$`F_{\eta (M)\gamma \gamma }(0)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{6\sqrt{3}\pi ^3}}{\displaystyle \frac{dxd^2k_{}}{x(1x)^2}\left[\frac{5m}{\sqrt{2}}\mathrm{cos}\varphi \mathrm{\Psi }_{n\overline{n}}(s)\mathrm{\Psi }_{\gamma n\overline{n}}(s)+m_s\mathrm{sin}\varphi \mathrm{\Psi }_{s\overline{s}}(s)\mathrm{\Psi }_{\gamma s\overline{s}}(s)\right]}.`$ (1)   
Two terms in the square brackets refer to $`n\overline{n}`$ and $`s\overline{s}`$ components of the $`\eta (M)`$-meson. The flavour wave function is determined as $`\psi _\eta (M)=\mathrm{cos}\varphi n\overline{n}+\mathrm{sin}\varphi s\overline{s}`$ where $`\varphi `$ is mixing angle and $`n\overline{n}=(u\overline{u}+d\overline{d})/\sqrt{2}`$; $`m`$ and $`m_s`$ are masses of the non-strange and strange constituent quarks.

The wave functions for $`n\overline{n}`$ and $`s\overline{s}`$ components are written as $`\mathrm{\Psi }_{n\overline{n}}(s)`$ and $`\mathrm{\Psi }_{s\overline{s}}(s)`$ where $`s`$ is $`q\overline{q}`$ invariant mass squared. In terms of the light cone variables $`(x,\stackrel{}{k}_{})`$, the $`q\overline{q}`$ invariant mass reads $`s=(m^2+k_{}^2)/x(1x)`$. The photon wave function $`\mathrm{\Psi }_{\gamma q\overline{q}}(s)`$ was found in Ref. : it is shown in Fig. 1a.

Wave functions of $`\eta (M)`$-mesons. We approximate wave functions of the $`\eta (M)`$-mesons in the one–parameter exponential form. For the basic multiplet and first radial excitation nonet, the wave functions are determined as follows:

$$\mathrm{\Psi }_\eta ^{(0)}(s)=Ce^{bs},\mathrm{\Psi }_\eta ^{(1)}(s)=C_1(D_1s1)e^{b_1s}.$$
(2)   
The parameters $`b`$ and $`b_1`$ are related to the radii squared of corresponding $`\eta (M)`$-meson. Then the other constants ($`C`$, $`C_1`$, $`D_1`$) are fixed by the normalization and orthogonality conditions:

$$\mathrm{\Psi }_\eta ^{(0)}\mathrm{\Psi }_\eta ^{(0)}=1,\mathrm{\Psi }_\eta ^{(1)}\mathrm{\Psi }_\eta ^{(1)}=1,\mathrm{\Psi }_\eta ^{(0)}\mathrm{\Psi }_\eta ^{(1)}=0.$$
(3)   
The convolution of the $`\eta `$-meson wave function at $`q_{}0`$ determines form factor of the $`\eta `$-meson, $`f_\eta ^{(n)}(q_{}^2)=\left[\mathrm{\Psi }_\eta ^{(n)}\mathrm{\Psi }_\eta ^{(n)}\right]_{q_{}0}`$ thus allowing us to relate the parameter $`b`$ (or $`b_1`$) at small $`q_{}^2`$ to $`\eta `$-meson radius squared: $`f_\eta (q_{}^2)1\frac{1}{6}R_\eta ^2q_{}^2`$. The $`\eta `$-meson form factor reads :

$`f_\eta (q_{}^2)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{16\pi ^3}}{\displaystyle \frac{dxd^2k_{}}{x(1x)^2}\mathrm{\Psi }_\eta ^{(n)}(s)\mathrm{\Psi }_\eta ^{(n)}(s^{})\left[\alpha (s+s^{}q^2)+q^2\right]},`$ (4)   
$`\alpha `$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{s+s^{}q^2}{2(s+s^{})\frac{(s^{}s)^2}{q^2}q^2}}`$ (5)   
where $`s^{}=(m^2+(\stackrel{}{k}_{}x\stackrel{}{q}_{})^2)/x(1x)`$. When working with a simple one-parameter wave function representation of Eqs. (2) and (3), it is instructive to compare the results with those obtained using more precise wave function patametrization; such a comparison can be done for basic $`2^1S_0q\overline{q}`$ nonet. The $`\eta `$ and $`\eta ^{}`$ wave functions (or those for its $`n\overline{n}`$ and $`s\overline{s}`$ components) were found in  basing on the data for the transitions $`\eta \gamma \gamma ^{}(Q^2)`$, $`\eta \gamma \gamma ^{}(Q^2)`$ at $`Q^220`$ GeV<sup>2</sup>. The calculated decay form factors $`F_{n\overline{n}\gamma \gamma }^{(0)}(k^2)`$ and $`F_{s\overline{s}\gamma \gamma }^{(0)}(k^2)`$ for these wave functions are marked in Fig. 1b by rhombuses. The wave functions of Ref.  give the following mean radii squared for $`n\overline{n}`$ and $`s\overline{s}`$ components: $`R_{n\overline{n}}^2=13.1`$ GeV<sup>-2</sup> and $`R_{s\overline{s}}^2=11.7`$ GeV<sup>-2</sup>; in Fig. 1b we have drawn rhombuses for these values of radii. Solid curves in Fig. 1b represent $`F_{n\overline{n}\gamma \gamma }^{(0)}(0)`$ and $`F_{s\overline{s}\gamma \gamma }^{(0)}(0)`$ calculated by using the simple exponential parametrization (2): we see that both calculations coincide with each other within reasonable accuracy. The coincidence of the results justifies the exponential approximation for the calculation of transition form facrors at $`q_{}^20`$.

Results. The figure 2a demonstrates calculation results for the transition form factors $`n\overline{n}\gamma \gamma `$ and $`s\overline{s}\gamma \gamma `$ when these components refer to $`\eta `$-mesons of the first radial excitation multiplet. The form factor for the $`n\overline{n}`$ component, $`F_{n\overline{n}\gamma \gamma }^{(1)}(0)`$, depends strongly on the mean radius squared, increasing rapidly in the region $`R_{n\overline{n}}^21424`$ GeV<sup>-2</sup> (0.7-1.2 fm<sup>2</sup>). As for $`s\overline{s}`$ component, the form factor $`F_{s\overline{s}\gamma \gamma }^{(1)}(0)`$ is small; it changes sign at $`R_{s\overline{s}}^215`$ GeV<sup>-2</sup>. Therefore, one can neglect the contribution of the $`s\overline{s}`$ component into $`\gamma \gamma `$ decay. Then

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\eta (M)\gamma \gamma }\frac{\pi }{4}\alpha ^2M^3\mathrm{cos}^2\varphi F_{n\overline{n}\gamma \gamma }^{(1)\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}2}}=\mathrm{cos}^2\varphi \mathrm{\Gamma }_{n\overline{n}\gamma \gamma }^{(1)}(0),$$
(6)   
where $`\mathrm{cos}^2\varphi `$ is a probability for $`n\overline{n}`$ component in the $`\eta (M)`$ meson. The calculated values $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{n\overline{n}\gamma \gamma }^{(1)}`$ for $`\eta (1295)`$ and $`\eta (1440)`$ are shown in Fig. 2b as functions of $`R_{n\overline{n}}^2`$. A significant difference of widths $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{n\overline{n}\gamma \gamma }^{(1)}`$ for $`\eta (1295)`$ and $`\eta (1440)`$ is due to a strong dependence of partial width on the $`\eta `$-meson mass, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\eta (M)\gamma \gamma }M^3`$.

Conclusion. We calculate the $`\gamma \gamma `$ partial width for $`\eta (1295)`$ and $`\eta (1440)`$ supposing these mesons to be members of the first radial excitation nonet $`2^1S_0q\overline{q}`$. The calculation technique is based on that developed in  for the transition of mesons from basic nonet $`1^1S_0q\overline{q}`$ into $`\gamma ^{}(Q^2)\gamma `$. The $`\gamma \gamma `$ partial widths of $`\eta (1295)`$ and $`\eta (1440)`$ are mainly determined by the flavour component $`n\overline{n}=(u\overline{u}+d\overline{d})/\sqrt{2}`$ so $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\eta (1295)\gamma \gamma }+\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\eta (1440)\gamma \gamma }\mathrm{\Gamma }_{n\overline{n}}^{(1)}`$. Partial widths strongly depend on the meson radii squared: $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\eta (1295)\gamma \gamma }+\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\eta (1440)\gamma \gamma }0.04`$ keV at $`R_{\eta (X)}^2/R_\pi ^21.5`$ and $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\eta (1295)\gamma \gamma }+\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\eta (1440)\gamma \gamma }0.2`$ keV at $`R_{\eta (X)}^2/R_\pi ^22`$.

The paper was partly supported by the RFBR grant 98-02-17236.