I describe a special class of meson-like \Lambda_Q excited states and present
evidence supporting the similarity of their spin-independent spectra to those
of mesons. I then examine spin-dependent forces in these baryons, showing that
predicted effects of spin-orbit forces are small for them for the same reason
they are small for the analogous mesons: a fortuitous cancellation between
large spin-orbit forces due to one-gluon-exchange and equally large inverted
spin-orbit forces due to Thomas precession in the confining potential. In
addition to eliminating the baryon spin-orbit puzzle in these states, this
solution provides a new perspective on spin-orbit forces in all baryons.Comment: 24 pages, 4 figure
