Charmonium and charmoniumlike states at the BESIII experiment

Abstract

Abstract Charmonium is a bound state of a charmed quark and a charmed antiquark, and a charmoniumlike state is a resonant structure that contains a charmed quark and antiquark pair but has properties that are incompatible with a conventional charmonium state. While operating at center-of-mass energies from 2 to 5 GeV, the BESIII experiment can access a wide mass range of charmonium and charmoniumlike states, and has contributed significantly in this field. We review BESIII results involving conventional charmonium states, including the first observation of the M1 transition ψ(2S) → γηc(2S) and the discovery of the ψ2(3823) state; and report on studies of charmoniumlike states, including the discoveries of the Zc(3900) and Zc(4020) tetraquark candidates, the resolution of the fine structure of the Y(4260) state, the discovery of the new production process e+e− → γX(3872) and the uncovering of strong evidence for the commonality among the X(3872), Y(4260) and Zc(3900) states. The prospects for further research at BESIII and proposed future facilities are also presented.