The Ω c -puzzle solved by means of quark model predictions
The observation of five $$\varOmega _c $$ Ω c = ssc states by LHCb [Aaij et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 118 , 182001(2017)] and the confirmation of four of them by Belle [Yelton et al. Phys. Rev. D 97 , 051102(2018)], may represent an important milestone in our understanding of the quark organization inside hadrons. By providing results for the spectrum of $$\varOmega _{ c}$$ Ω c baryons and predictions for their $$\varXi _{ c}^{+}K^{-}$$ Ξ c + K - and $$\varXi _{ c}'^{+}K^{-}$$ Ξ c ' + K - decay amplitudes within an harmonic oscillator based model, we suggest a possible solution to the $$\varOmega _{c}$$ Ω c quantum number puzzle and we extend our mass and decay width predictions to the $$\varOmega _b$$ Ω b states. Finally, we discuss why the set of $$\varOmega _{ c(b)}$$ Ω c ( b ) baryons is the most suitable environment to test the validity of three-quark and quark–diquark effective degrees of freedom.