# On the current status of OZI violation in 𝜋⁢𝑁 and 𝑝⁢𝑝 reactionsSupported by Forschungszentrum Jülich

## 1 Introduction

Assuming the ideal SU(3) octet-singlet mixing Okubo, Zweig and Iizuka proposed Okubo ; Zweig ; Iizuka  that the production of a $`\varphi `$-meson from an initial non-strange state is strongly suppressed in comparison to $`\omega `$-meson production. Indeed, because of SU(3) breaking the octet and singlet states are mixed and for an ideal mixing angle $`\theta _V=35.3^0`$ the $`\varphi `$-meson is a pure $`s\overline{s}`$ state. In case of $`\varphi `$ production from $`\pi N`$, $`NN`$ or $`N\overline{N}`$ reactions the OZI rule states that the contribution from the diagram with a $`s\overline{s}`$ pair disconnected from the initial $`u,d,\overline{u},\overline{d}`$ should ideally vanish. The experimental deviation from the ideal mixing angle $`\mathrm{\Delta }\theta _V`$=3.7<sup>0</sup> PDG  can be used Lipkin  to estimate the ratio $`R(\varphi /\omega )4.2\times 10^3`$ of the cross sections with a $`\varphi `$ and $`\omega `$ in the final state. This deviation of the experimental ratio $`R`$ from zero is denoted as OZI rule violation. A large ratio $`R`$ might indicate an intrinsic $`s\overline{s}`$ content of the nucleon since in that case the $`\varphi `$-meson production is due to a direct strangeness transfer from the initial to the final state and thus OZI allowed.

The OZI violation problem has lead to a large experimental activity involving different hadronic reactions. Here we perform a systematical data analysis for $`\pi N`$ and $`pp`$ reactions and discuss their theoretical interpretation in context with the most recent data point from the DISTO Collaboration Balestra .

## 2 $`\omega `$ and $`\varphi `$ production in $`\pi N`$ reactions

Without involving any theoretical assumption about the production mechanism the data LB  on the total $`\pi N\omega N`$ and $`\pi N\varphi N`$ cross sections may be analyzed in terms of the corresponding transition amplitudes. The amplitude for a two-body reaction with stable particles in the final state is related to the total cross section $`\sigma `$ as Feynman 

$$|M_V|=4\left[\pi \sigma s\right]^{1/2}\left[\frac{\lambda (s,m_N^2,m_\pi ^2)}{\lambda (s,m_N^2,m_V^2)}\right]^{1/4},$$
(1)   
where $`\lambda (x,y,z)=(xyz)^24yz`$, while $`m_N`$, $`m_\pi `$, $`m_V`$ denote the nucleon, pion and vector meson masses, respectively, and $`s`$ is the squared invariant collision energy. Moreover, we compare the transition amplitudes for $`\omega `$ and $`\varphi `$ production at the same excess energy $`ϵ=\sqrt{s}m_Nm_V`$. As was discussed in Ref. Hanhart , Eq. (1) can be used for the evaluation of the amplitudes for the production of unstable ($`\omega `$ and $`\varphi `$) mesons at excess energies $`ϵ>\mathrm{\Gamma }_V`$, where $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_V`$ denotes the width of the vector meson spectral function due to its vacuum decay.

Furthermore, due to the experimental set up the $`\pi ^{}p\omega n`$ data from Ref. Karami  should not be considered as total cross sections, but as differential cross sections $`\sigma _{dif}`$ integrated over a given range of the final neutron momentum Hanhart . Indeed, the $`\pi ^{}p\omega n`$ cross sections given in Ref. Karami  for different intervals $`[q_{min},q_{max}]`$ of neutron momenta in the center-of-mass system can be related to the transition amplitude $`M_V`$ as

$`\sigma _{dif}={\displaystyle \underset{q_{min}}{\overset{q_{max}}{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{|M_V|^2}{4\pi ^2\lambda ^{1/2}(s,m_p^2,m_\pi ^2)}}{\displaystyle \frac{q^2}{\sqrt{q^2+m_n^2}}}`$   
$`{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }_Vm_V}{(s2\sqrt{s(q^2+m_n^2)}+m_n^2m_V^2)^2\mathrm{\Gamma }_V^2m_V^2}}dq,`$ (2)   
where $`m_p`$ and $`m_n`$ are the proton and neutron masses, respectively, and $`s`$ is given as a function of $`q`$. Eq. (2) agrees with that in Ref. Hanhart  in the non-relativistic limit. Furthermore, in the calculations we use the set of the neutron momentum intervals $`[q_{min},q_{max}]`$ as in Ref. Karami .

Figs. 1,2 show the transition amplitudes for the $`\pi N\omega N`$ and $`\pi N\varphi N`$ reactions evaluated from the experimental data LB ; Karami . Note, that the $`\pi ^{}p\omega n`$ transition amplitude evaluated from the data of Ref. Karami  (full dots at small $`ϵ`$) by Eq. (2) does not depend on energy within the errorbars and agrees well with that extracted from the other data LB .

Since the data are not available for a comparison at exactly the same excess energies we fit the transition amplitudes by the function

$$|M_V|=M_0+M_1\mathrm{exp}(\gamma ϵ)$$
(3)   
with the parameters given in Table 1. The solid lines in Figs. 1, 2 show the approximation (3) while the dashed areas indicate the uncertainty of the parameterization. Note, that the approximation is compatible with an almost constant transition amplitude for $`ϵ<`$ 100 MeV and reasonably reproduces the experimental results up to $`ϵ=`$10 GeV.

The resulting ratio of the $`\pi N\omega N`$ to $`\pi N\varphi N`$ transition amplitudes is shown in Fig. 3a) by the solid line as a function of the excess energy $`ϵ`$. It is important to note that the ratio $`R=|M_\omega |/|M_\varphi |`$ is almost constant within the given uncertainties up to $`ϵ=`$10 GeV, where the data are available.

Since the $`\omega /\varphi `$ ratio is always discussed as a constant, that is compared to the SU(3) predictions, we calculate the average value of $`<R>`$ in the range $`0<ϵ<10`$ GeV. Fig. 3b) shows the reduced $`\chi ^2`$ as a function of the constant $`<R>`$, which approaches a minimum at

$$<R>=\frac{|M_{\pi N\omega N}|}{|M_{\pi N\varphi N}|}=8.7\pm 1.8.$$
(4)   
with the dispersion given for a 95% confidence level.

Furthermore, a visual way to control our estimate for $`<R>`$ is to compare the experimental data directly by multiplying the $`\pi N\varphi N`$ amplitude by the factor $`<R>`$ as shown in Fig. 4. We note that four experimental points for the $`\pi ^{}p\varphi n`$ reaction around $`ϵ=`$1 GeV deviate by a factor of $``$1.8 from the hypothesis applied. New experimental data with high accuracy are obviously necessary for a final conclusion about the ratio of the $`\pi N\omega N`$ and $`\pi N\varphi N`$ reaction amplitudes.

## 3 $`\omega `$ and $`\varphi `$ production in $`pp`$ reactions

In our normalization the $`ppppM`$ total cross section for the production of an unstable meson with total width $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is given as

$`\sigma `$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2^8\pi ^3s\lambda ^{1/2}(s,m_N^2,m_N^2)}}{\displaystyle \underset{m_{min}}{\overset{\sqrt{s}2m_N}{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2\pi }}{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }dx}{(xm_V)^2+\mathrm{\Gamma }^2/4}}`$ (5)   
$`\times `$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{4m_N^2}{\overset{(\sqrt{s}x)^2}{}}}|M|^2\lambda ^{1/2}(s,y,x^2)\lambda ^{1/2}(y,m_N^2,m_N^2)`$   
$`\times `$ $`C^2(q=0.5\sqrt{y4m_N^2}){\displaystyle \frac{dy}{y}},`$   
where $`m_{min}`$ is the minimal mass of the unstable particle and $`C(q)`$ describes the final state interaction (FSI) between the nucleons Watson ; Migdal ; GellMann ; Taylor .

Fig. 5 shows the average production amplitude for the $`pppp\omega `$ reaction evaluated by Eq. (5) from the data LB ; Hibou  using the FSI models from Refs.DKT ; SC1 <sup>1</sup><sup>1</sup>1A comparison between the different models for the final state interaction is presented in Refs.SC1 ; SC2 . We note that the uncertainty in the evaluation of the $`pppp\omega `$ production amplitude due to the different models of the FSI corrections is substantially smaller than the dispersion of the experimental results.

The $`pppp\omega `$ reaction amplitude evaluated from the data LB ; Hibou  is approximated by the function (3) with parameters given in Tab. 1 and is shown in Fig.5 by the solid line. The dashed area in Fig.5 indicates again the uncertainty of the approximation which was calculated with the error correlation matrix.

Recently the DISTO Collaboration reported an experimental result Balestra  on the ratio of the $`pppp\varphi `$ and $`pppp\omega `$ total cross section at a beam energy of 2.85 GeV. For the further analysis we need the $`\varphi `$-meson production cross section explicitly, which can be obtained by normalization to the available data on $`\omega `$-meson production LB ; Hibou . Our extrapolation for the $`pppp\omega `$ production amplitude at 2.85 GeV is shown in Fig.5 by the star and provides

$`\sigma (pppp\omega )`$ $`=`$ $`45\pm 7\mu b,`$   
$`\sigma (pppp\varphi )`$ $`=`$ $`0.17_{0.06}^{+0.07}\mu b.`$ (6)   
Now the DISTO data point Balestra  for the $`pppp\varphi `$ total cross section can be used for the evaluation of the reaction amplitude. Fig. 6 shows the experimental results for the average $`pppp\varphi `$ production amplitude as a function of the excess energy. Since there are only three experimental points we cannot perform a statistical analysis of the $`|M_\omega |`$/$`|M_\varphi |`$ ratio similar to the $`\pi NVN`$ analysis. Note that the $`pppp\varphi `$ data are available only for $`ϵ>`$80 MeV, where the FSI enhancement as well as the correction due to the final $`\varphi `$-meson width almost play no role.

Now, to compare the data one might take the ratio of the $`pppp\omega `$ and $`pppp\varphi `$ amplitudes as a constant. The two experimental points at high energy give a ratio $`R`$8.5. Fig. 6 shows the $`pppp\varphi `$ production amplitude together with the $`pppp\omega `$ experimental results divided by the factor 8.5. To illustrate the $`ϵ`$-dependence the data are simply connected by upper and lower lines through their error bars. Fig.7, furthermore, shows the data for the $`pppp\varphi `$ production amplitude using the fit (3) for the $`pppp\omega `$ amplitude again divided by the factor 8.5. Here the DISTO data point sticks out from the error band to some extent. However, it is not clear if one might take the $`\omega `$/$`\varphi `$ ratio as independent on $`ϵ`$. As we already demonstrated for the $`\pi N\omega N`$ and $`\pi N\varphi N`$ reactions, the $`|M_\omega |`$/$`|M_\varphi |`$ ratio substantially depends on the excess energy for $`ϵ>`$ 300 MeV. In this sense, the DISTO result does not strictly contradict the $`pppp\varphi `$ data available at high energy.

Furthermore, since additional experimental results Arenton ; Golovkin  are available for the ratio of the $`\varphi `$/$`\omega `$ total or differential cross sections above 8 GeV bombarding energy, we also show this ratio calculated with Eq.(5) in Fig.8 as a function of the incident proton energy.

We have performed a $`\chi ^2`$ fit to the available data on the ratio of the $`pppp\varphi `$ and $`pppp\omega `$ cross sections with a constant ratio of the $`|M_\omega |`$/$`|M_\varphi |`$ production amplitude and obtained the value of 8.5$`\pm `$1.0. Here the error is due to the parent standard deviation. The confidence level of the fit is below 50%. Again the DISTO result is not consistent with the constant ratio $`|M_\omega |`$/$`|M_\varphi |`$=8.5. We mention that the DISTO result on $`\varphi `$-meson production can be fixed by $`|M_\omega |`$/$`|M_\varphi |`$=5.72$`{}_{1.17}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{+1.01}`$ with the $`pppp\omega `$ amplitude taken from the approximation (3).

## 4 Theoretical interpretations

In general Ellis  the experimental results on the $`\varphi /\omega `$ ratio are compared to a constant as given by Lipkin Lipkin ,

$`R^2(\varphi /\omega )={\displaystyle \frac{g_{\varphi \rho \pi }^2}{g_{\omega \rho \pi }^2}}={\displaystyle \frac{g_{\varphi NN}^2}{g_{\omega NN}^2}}={\displaystyle \frac{\sigma (\pi N\varphi X)}{\sigma (\pi N\omega X)}}`$   
$`={\displaystyle \frac{\sigma (NN\varphi X)}{\sigma (NN\omega X)}}=tan^2(\mathrm{\Delta }\theta _V)=4.2\times 10^3,`$ (7)   
where $`\mathrm{\Delta }\theta _V=3.7^0`$ PDG  is the deviation from the ideal $`\omega \varphi `$ mixing angle. It is important to note, that Eq. (7) provides the $`\varphi /\omega `$ ratio for hadronic reactions which can be expressed by the diagrams shown in Fig. 9 that contain the $`V\rho \pi `$ and $`VNN`$ vertices.

Furthermore, the ratio of the $`\omega \rho \pi `$ to $`\varphi \rho \pi `$ coupling constant can be evaluated from the relevant partial decay width Sakurai1 ; GellMann1 . The $`\varphi \rho \pi `$ coupling constant can be measured (as first proposed by Sakurai Sakurai1 ) by the $`\varphi \rho \pi `$ decay via

$`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\varphi \rho \pi }`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{g_{\varphi \rho \pi }^2}{16\pi ^2m_\varphi ^5}}{\displaystyle \underset{2m_\pi }{\overset{m_\varphi m_\pi }{}}}𝑑\mu \lambda ^{3/2}(m_\varphi ^2,\mu ^2,m_\pi ^2)`$ (8)   
$`\times `$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\mu ^2\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\rho 2\pi }(\mu )}{(\mu ^2m_\rho ^2)^2+\mu ^2\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\rho 2\pi }^2(\mu )}}.`$   
Taking into account the energy dependence of the $`\rho `$-meson width and experimental numbers from the PDG PDG  we obtain $`g_{\varphi \rho \pi }`$ as shown in Table 2.

The separate $`\omega \rho \pi `$ decay is not energetically allowed and to determine the $`\omega \rho \pi `$ coupling constant Gell-Mann and Zachariasen GellMann1  proposed to study the radiative decays $`\omega \pi \gamma `$ and $`\rho \pi \gamma `$. In their approach (see also the review of Meißner Meissner ) this process is dominated by the $`\omega \rho \pi `$ vertex with the intermediate vector meson coupled to the photon via vector dominance. The $`\omega \rho \pi `$ coupling constant can be measured by GellMann1 ; Kaymakcalan ,

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }(\omega \pi ^0\gamma )=\frac{g_{\omega \rho \pi }^2}{96m_\omega ^5}\frac{\alpha }{\gamma _\rho ^2}\left[m_\omega ^2m_\pi ^2\right]^3,$$
(9)   
where $`\alpha `$ is the fine structure constant. Furthermore, a direct measurement of $`\gamma _\rho `$ is possible by means of the vector meson decay into leptons Nambu 

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }(\rho l^+l^{})=\frac{\pi }{3}\left[\frac{\alpha }{\gamma _\rho }\right]^2\sqrt{m_V^24m_l^2}\left[1+\frac{2m_l^2}{m_\rho ^2}\right],$$
(10)   
where $`m_\rho `$ and $`m_l`$ are the masses of the vector meson and lepton, respectively. In a similar way $`g_{\omega \rho \pi }`$ can be measured via the $`\rho \pi ^0\gamma `$ decay. The relevant coupling constants obtained with the latest PDG fit to experimental data are listed in Table 2.

On the other hand, Gell-Mann, Sharp and Wagner GellMann2  proposed to determine $`g_{\omega \rho \pi }`$ through the $`\omega 3\pi `$ decay assuming that the $`\omega `$ first converts into $`\rho \pi `$ followed by $`\rho 2\pi `$. The relation between the $`\mathrm{\Gamma }(\omega 3\pi )`$ and $`\omega \rho \pi `$ coupling constants is given in Ref. Lichard . A more elaborate analysis of the $`\omega 3\pi `$ decay includes the four-point contact term due to the direct coupling between the $`\omega `$-meson and three pions Meissner ; Klingl1 ; Kaymakcalan , however, the contribution from this anomalous coupling to $`\mathrm{\Gamma }(\omega 3\pi )`$ is only about 10%. The analysis from Refs. Klingl1 ; Klingl2  provides $`g_{\omega \rho \pi }=10.88`$.

Note that the mixing angle can also be determined by the ratio of the $`\omega \pi ^0\gamma `$ and $`\varphi \pi ^0\gamma `$ radiative decay widths by applying vector dominance (9), which gives $`g_{\omega \rho \pi }/g_{\varphi \rho \pi }`$= 12.9$`\pm `$0.4. An alternative model Meissner ; Klingl1 ; Meissner2  proposed a direct $`\omega \pi \gamma `$ coupling, instead of the vector dominance, where the ratio of $`g_{\omega \rho \gamma }`$ to $`g_{\varphi \rho \gamma }`$ yields $`16.8\pm 1.0`$. Both models predicts values close to the mixing angle $`\theta _V=37^0`$, determined from the mass splitting in the vector-meson nonet, but depend on the vector dominance or direct coupling assumption. The direct $`\varphi \rho \pi `$ decay is a more standard way, although it leads to a rather large uncertainty in the determination of the $`\varphi \rho \pi `$ coupling.

To provide a graphical overview, Fig. 10 illustrates the ratio of the $`\omega \rho \pi `$ and $`\varphi \rho \pi `$ coupling constants evaluated from the partial decay width. We also show the ratio given by the $`\pi NVN`$ and $`ppVpp`$ data assuming that this ratio is energy independent. The DISTO result is shown separately and – as discussed above – is not consistent with the other data for $`pp`$ reactions. However, within the present uncertainties the experimental results – as evaluated from all different sources – appear to be compatible; they all disagree with the SU(3) estimate based on the $`\omega \varphi `$ as given by the PDG PDG .

We note, furthermore, that any production mechanism different from those in Fig. 9 will invalidate the overall scaling based on the $`R^2(\varphi /\omega )`$ function Nakayama2 ; Nakayama1 . For instance, as found in Refs. Locher ; Buzatu1 ; Mull ; Buzatu2 ; Gortchakov ; Anisovich ; Markushin , two-step processes with intermediate $`K\overline{K}`$, $`K^{}\overline{K}`$ $`K^{}\overline{K^{}}`$ states may contribute substantially to $`\varphi `$ production in antiproton-proton annihilation. Certainly, such OZI allowed processes could have also an effect on $`\varphi `$-meson production in $`\pi N`$ and $`NN`$ reactions, but their actual contribution so far is unknown here. In view of Fig. 3a we speculate that their contribution should be rather low for excess energies $`ϵ`$300 MeV.

## 5 Summary

We have analyzed the experimental data available for $`\omega `$ and $`\varphi `$-meson production from $`\pi N`$ and $`pp`$ reactions and have evaluated the ratio of the reaction amplitudes. Indeed the experimental $`\varphi `$/$`\omega `$ ratio substantially deviates from the SU(3) estimate $`R^2(\varphi /\omega )=4.2\times 10^3`$, which is based on the $`\omega \varphi `$ mixing angle of $`\theta _V`$=39<sup>0</sup>.

However, it is important to recall that this SU(3) estimate is given by the ratio of the $`\varphi \rho \pi `$ to $`\omega \rho \pi `$ and $`\varphi NN`$ to $`\omega NN`$ coupling constants and is related only to the reaction mechanisms involving the relevant $`V\rho \pi `$ and $`VNN`$ vertex. Obviously, any other production mechanism Locher ; Buzatu1 ; Mull ; Buzatu2 ; Gortchakov ; Anisovich ; Markushin  as well as different form factors in the $`V\rho \pi `$ and $`VNN`$ vertices will lead to a deviation of the experimental ratios from the simple scaling $`R^2(\varphi /\omega )=4.2\times 10^3`$.

On the other side, by fitting the experimental ratio with a constant, our comparison of the $`\pi N`$ and $`pp`$ data with the ratio of the $`\varphi \rho \pi `$ and $`\omega \rho \pi `$ coupling constant (as evaluated from the measured partial decay) shows an overall compatibility. The full analysis indicates that – within the experimental uncertainties – the data on the partial decays as well as on $`\pi N`$ and $`pp`$ reactions provide an average ratio $`R^2(\varphi /\omega )1.6\times 10^2`$, which is close to the DISTO data point, however, disagrees with the SU(3) estimate based on the $`\omega \varphi `$ mixing angle of $`\theta _V`$=39<sup>0</sup>.

###### Acknowledgements.

We appreciate valuable discussions with W. Kühn and J. Ritman as well as comments and suggestions from C. Hanhart and J. Haidenbauer.