Paper detail

Evidence for $Z_{c}^{\pm}$ decays into the $ρ^{\pm} η_{c}$ final state

We study $e^{+}e^{-}$ collisions with a $π^{+}π^{-}π^{0}η_{c}$ final state using data samples collected with the BESIII detector at center-of-mass energies $\sqrt{s}=4.226$, $4.258$, $4.358$, $4.416$, and $4.600$ GeV. Evidence for the decay $\zcpm\to\rhopm\etac$ is reported with a statistical significance of $3.9σ$ with various systematic uncertainties taken into account at $\sqrt{s} = 4.226$ GeV, and the Born cross section times branching fraction $σ^{B}(\EE\to \pimp\zcpm)\times \BR(\zcpm\to\rhopm\etac)$ is measured to be $(48 \pm 11 \pm 11)\,\rm{pb}$. The $\zcpm\to \rhopm\etac$ signal is not significant at the other center-of-mass energies and the corresponding upper limits are determined. In addition, no significant signal is observed in a search for $\zcppm\to ρ^{\pm}\etac$ with the same data samples. The ratios $R_{\zc}=\BR(\zcpm\to ρ^{\pm} \etac)/\BR(\zcpm\to π^{\pm} \jpsi)$ and $R_{\zcp}=\BR(\zcppm\to ρ^{\pm} \etac)/\BR(\zcppm\to π^{\pm} \hc)$ are obtained and used to discriminate between different theoretical interpretations of the $\zcpm$ and $\zcppm$.