Looking for exotic multiquark states in nonleptonic B decays

Recent data on inclusive B decays into charmonium states taken by the CLEO Collaboration suggest that a sizeable fraction of the nonleptonic decays may consist of the J/psi Lambda (p) over bar three body final state, corresponding to a distinct enhancement in the inclusive J/psi momentum distribution. The kinematical boundary of this structure corresponds to the case where the J/psi recoils nearly monoenergetically in the B rest system against a partner having mass of similar or equal to 2 GeV. This may allow the observation of a Lambda - (p) over bar bound state near or just below threshold; i.e., strange baryonium, even if the production rate is small. Using a phase space approach to the B meson decay, we study the J/psi momentum distribution and the effect of baryonium formation. We also discuss the possible observation of pentaquarks and hadronically-bound J/psi by the observation of monoenergetic baryons in these decays. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.