Benchmarking the Born-Oppenheimer approximation with the Gaussian expansion method for doubly heavy hadrons

TL;DR

The paper tackles the validation of the Born-Oppenheimer approximation (BOA) for doubly heavy hadrons by benchmarking against the fully dynamical Gaussian expansion method (GEM) and by examining how heavy-quark mass scales and trial-basis choices influence BOA results. The authors contrast BOA calculations using Slater-type and Gaussian-type trial functions with GEM, which solves the full multi-quark Schrödinger equation on a Gaussian basis, and they apply this framework to hydrogen-like systems as a benchmark and to $QQq$ and $QQ\bar{q}\bar{q}$ states in hadrons. They find that BOA can reproduce GEM results when a clear heavy–light mass hierarchy exists or when the heavy quarks are not too heavy, but it becomes quantitatively unreliable for bottom-like systems; Slater-type bases tend to overbind with increasing $m_Q$ while Gaussian-type bases tend to underbind due to neglected non-adiabatic corrections. Overall, the work clarifies the limits of the adiabatic BOA in strong interactions and highlights the necessity of fully dynamical approaches like GEM for precise spectroscopy of doubly heavy hadrons.

Abstract

The Born-Oppenheimer approximation is widely used to investigate the properties of hydrogen-like systems and doubly heavy hadrons. However, the extent to which this approximation reliably captures the true features of such systems remains an open question. In this work, we adopt the results obtained with the Gaussian expansion method as a benchmark to assess the validity of the Born-Oppenheimer approximation in hadronic systems. We also investigate the dependence of the Born-Oppenheimer approximation results on the choice of trial wave functions. A comprehensive study of the Born-Oppenheimer approximation is carried out by performing calculations using Slater-type functions and Gaussian-type functions as trial wave functions, and by comparing the resulting predictions with those obtained from the Gaussian expansion method. We find that the calculations performed within the Born-Oppenheimer approximation are close to those obtained with the Gaussian expansion method when the heavy-quark mass is relatively small. However, as the heavy-quark mass increases, calculations employing Slater-type functions yield larger values than those from the Gaussian expansion method, whereas those using Gaussian-type functions lead to smaller ones. The use of Slater-type functions generally leads to an enhanced binding energy. The underestimation observed in Born-Oppenheimer approximation calculations with Gaussian-type functions primarily stems from the neglect of non-adiabatic corrections. This comparative study provides deeper insight into the structure of doubly heavy hadrons and clarifies the applicability and limitations of the Born-Oppenheimer treatment in these systems.

Figures (2)

• Figure 1: The eigenvalues of the hydrogen molecular ion and hydrogen molecule as function of the mass ratio $m_i/m_e$, obtained within the BOA-STFs, BOA-GTFs, and GEM. The vertical dashed line denotes the physical value $m_p/m_e$.
• Figure 2: The dependence of the eigenvalues $E$ on the heavy quark mass $m_Q$ with GEM (blue line), BOA-STFs (red line), and BOA-GTFs (green line) for $QQn$ and $QQnn$.