Evidence for e + e - → γ η c ( 1 S ) at center-of-mass energies between 4.01 and 4.60 GeV
In this paper, we present first evidence for the process e + e - → γη c (1S) at six center-of-mass energies between 4.01 and 4.60 GeV using data collected by the BESIII experiment operating at BEPCII. We measure the Born cross section at each energy using a combination of twelve η c (1S) decay channels. We also combine all six energies under various assumptions for the energy-dependence of the cross section. Finally, if the process is assumed to proceed via the Y (4260), we measure a peak Born cross section σ peak (e + e - → γη c (1S)) = 2.11 ± 0.49(stat.) ± 0.36(syst.) pb with a statistical significance of 4.2σ.