<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <mml:mi>Q</mml:mi> <mml:mi>Q</mml:mi> <mml:mover accent="true"> <mml:mi>Q</mml:mi> <mml:mo stretchy="false">¯</mml:mo> </mml:mover> <mml:mover accent="true"> <mml:mi>Q</mml:mi

We propose a stringy description of a system composed of two heavy quarks and two heavy antiquarks, mimicking that in pure <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <a:mi>S</a:mi> <a:mi>U</a:mi> <a:mo stretchy="false">(</a:mo> <a:mn>3</a:mn> <a:mo stretchy="false">)</a:mo> </a:math> gauge theory. We present both analytical and numerical studies of the string configurations for rectangular geometries. As an application, we analyze the two lowest Born-Oppenheimer potentials. Our results suggest that, depending on the geometry and quark ordering, the ground state of the <e:math xmlns:e="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <e:mi>Q</e:mi> <e:mi>Q</e:mi> <e:mover accent="true"> <e:mi>Q</e:mi> <e:mo stretchy="false">¯</e:mo> </e:mover> <e:mover accent="true"> <e:mi>Q</e:mi> <e:mo stretchy="false">¯</e:mo> </e:mover> </e:math> system may be a hadronic molecule, a tetraquark state, or a superposition of the two. For general geometries, we derive the asymptotic expression for the energy of the tetraquark configuration in the infrared limit and extend this result to multiquark configurations. Here we also demonstrate the universality of the string tension.