Observation of an Axial-Vector State in the Study of the Decay ψ ( 3686 ) → ϕ η η ′
Using ( 2712.4 ± 14.3 ) × 10 6 ψ ( 3686 ) events collected with the BESIII detector at BEPCII, a partial wave analysis of the decay ψ ( 3686 ) → ϕ η η ′ is performed with the covariant tensor approach. In addition to the established states h 1 ( 1900 ) and ϕ ( 2170 ) , an axial-vector state with a mass near 2.3 GeV / c 2 is observed for the first time. Its mass and width are measured to be 2316 ± 9 stat ± 3 0 syst MeV / c 2 and 89 ± 1 5 stat ± 2 6 syst MeV , respectively. The product branching fractions of B [ ψ ( 3686 ) → X ( 2300 ) η ′ ] B [ X ( 2300 ) → ϕ η ] and B [ ψ ( 3686 ) → X ( 2300 ) η ] B [ X ( 2300 ) → ϕ η ′ ] are determined to be ( 4.8 ± 1.3 stat ± 0.7 syst ) × 10 − 6 and ( 2.2 ± 0.7 stat ± 0.7 syst ) × 10 − 6 , respectively. The branching fraction B [ ψ ( 3686 ) → ϕ η η ′ ] is measured for the first time to be ( 3.14 ± 0.1 7 stat ± 0.2 4 syst ) × 10 − 5 . The first uncertainties are statistical and the second are systematic. Published by the American Physical Society 2025