Construction of the $a_4$ family

Abstract

The COMPASS Collaboration recently reported a new broad $J^{PC}=4^{++}$ structure, denoted as $a_4(2610)$, which has sparked our interest in studying the $a_4$ family with $I^G{J}^{PC}=1^{-}{4}^{++}$. In this work, we investigate the mass spectra and Okubo-Zweig-Iizuka-allowed two-body strong decays of the $a_4$ family using the modified Godfrey-Isgur quark model and the quark-pair creation model. We also explore the possibility of identifying $a_4(2610)$ as a $4F$ or $2H$ state, and our numerical results suggest that it could be a promising candidate for the $a_4(2H)$ state. In addition, we predict the masses and the widths of the $a_4(1H)$ and $a_4(3F)$ states.

12 pages,4 figures, version accepted by EPJC