Masses of purely top-quark bound states: toponium and the triply-top baryon

Abstract We investigate the pseudoscalar ( $$\eta _t$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>η</mml:mi> <mml:mi>t</mml:mi> </mml:msub> </mml:math> ) and vector ( $$\psi _t$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>ψ</mml:mi> <mml:mi>t</mml:mi> </mml:msub> </mml:math> ) toponium states, as well as the triply-top baryon ( $$\Omega _{ttt}$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>Ω</mml:mi> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>ttt</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> </mml:math> ), using the QCD sum-rule method. This study was motivated by the recent observation of a pseudoscalar enhancement near the $$t\bar{t}$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>t</mml:mi> <mml:mover> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>t</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>¯</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:mover> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> threshold, reported by the CMS and ATLAS collaborations with a statistical significance exceeding $$5\sigma $$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>5</mml:mn> <mml:mi>σ</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> . In the calculations, we consider both the perturbative and nonperturbative contributions, with the nonperturbative operators taken into account up to dimension eight. The results obtained for the pseudoscalar toponium provide a theoretical estimate that is consistent with the near-threshold events observed in recent experimental studies. The calculated negative binding energy for both the pseudoscalar and vector toponium states reflects the strong correlation within the $$t\bar{t}$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>t</mml:mi> <mml:mover> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>t</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>¯</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:mover> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> system and can be interpreted as $$t\bar{t}$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>t</mml:mi> <mml:mover> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>t</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>¯</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:mover> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> bound states, while the calculated central mass for the $$\Omega _{ttt}$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>Ω</mml:mi> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>ttt</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> </mml:math> slightly exceeds the central value of the sum of the constituent top-quark masses. The results of this study can provide a precise theoretical guide for future experimental investigations of these states, which are composed entirely of top quarks, at high-energy colliders such as the LHC and future facilities like the FCC.