Pentaquarks

Since LEPS collaboration reported the first evidence of $\Theta^+$ pentaquark in early 2003, eleven other experimental groups have confirmed this exotic state while many other groups didn't see any signal. If this state is further established by future high statistical experiments, its discovery shall be one of the most important events in hadron physics for the past three decades. This exotic baryon with such a low mass and so narrow a width imposes a big challenge to hadron theorists. Up to now, there have appeared more than two hundred theoretical papers trying to interpret this charming state. I will review some important theoretical developments on pentaquarks based on my biased personal views.Comment: Review Commissioned by International Journal of Modern Physics

Pentaquark baryons in SU(3) quark model

We study the SU(3) group structure of pentaquark baryons which are made of four quarks and one antiquark. The pentaquark baryons form {1}, {8}, {10}, {10}-bar, {27}, and {35} multiplets in SU(3) quark model. First, the flavor wave functions of all the pentaquark baryons are constructed in SU(3) quark model and then the flavor SU(3) symmetry relations for the interactions of the pentaquarks with three-quark baryons and pentaquark baryons are obtained.Comment: REVTeX, 36 pages, 8 figures, references added, section for mass sum rules is added, to appear in Phys. Rev.

A pentaquark model of the negative parity Lambda(1405)

We test a pentaquark model of the negative parity hyperon Lambda(1405). We use the model where valence four quarks and one antiquark move in a potential relativisticaly and interact with themselves and each other through gluon and NG boson. We calculate mass shift of the system and find that there are two Lambda(1405) with almost degenerate mass: one flavor singlet and one flavor octet. We calclate also sigma-term and scalar form factor of the hyperon and show their usefulness to deduce the number of valence quark in the hypeon.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, to appear in the proceedings of the Yukawa International Seminar (YKIS) 2006, "New frontiers in QCD", Kyoto, Japa

Some (further) Comments on the Theta(1540) Pentaquark

Additional broader I=0 states in the KN channel near $\Theta^+$(1540) are expected in many models, making the absence of any signature in the K$^+$-deuteron scattering data even more puzzling. In an ideal "three-body" picture the $\Theta$ is viewed as two compact ud(1)ud(2) $\bar{3}$ color diquarks and an $\bar{s}$ quark. A "QCD-type" inequality involving $m(\Theta^+), m(\Lambda)$, the mass of the $\Lambda(1/2^-)$ L=1 excitation and that of a new I=0 tetraquark vector meson then follows. The inequality suggests a very light new vector meson, and is violated. We note that "associated production" of the pentaquark with another quadriquark or anti-pentaquark may be favored. This along with some estimates of the actual production cross sections suggest that the $\Theta$ can be found in BaBar or Belle e$^+$-e$^-$ colliders.Comment: 6 page

Exotic hadrons from dynamical clustering of quarks in ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions

Results from a model study on the formation of exotic quark clusters at the hadronization stage of a heavy ion collision are presented. The dynamical quark molecular dynamics (qMD) model which is used is sketched, and results for exotica made of up to six (anti-)quarks are shown. The second part focuses on pentaquarks. The rapidity distribution are shown, and the distribution of strangeness is found to yield an indicator of thermalization and homogenisation of the deconfined quark system. Relative Theta^+ yields are found to be lower than thermal model estimates.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, to appear in the proceedings of Strangeness in Quark Matter 2004 (SQM2004), Cape Town, South Africa, 15-20 September 200