Production of excited $Λ_c^+$ baryons through $Λ_b$ hadronic weak decays

In this work, to establish a more abundant $Λ_c$ baryon spectrum, we discuss the production potentials of the excited $Λ_c$ baryons through $Λ_b$ hadronic weak decays within a constituent quark model. Based on our successful explanations of the existing experimental data for the $Λ_b \to Λ_c(π^-, K^{-}, D^{-}, D^{-}_s, D_s^{*-})$ processes, we further calculate the decay rates of the $Λ_b$ baryon into the $1P$-, $1D$-, $2S$-, $3S$-, $2P$-, $1F$-, and $2D$-wave $Λ_c$ excited states. It is found that these $Λ_c$ excitations have a large production rate in the $Λ_b$ hadronic weak decay process associated $π^-$ meson emitting, i.e., $Λ_b\to Λ_c^{*}π^-$, their branching fractions can reach up to $\mathcal{O}(10^{-3})$. To search for the higher $3S$-, $2P$-, $1F$-, and $2D$-wave $Λ_c$ states, the $Λ_b \to Λ_c (3S) π^-\to D^{*0}p π^-$, and $Λ_b\to Λ_c(2P,2D,1F) π^-\to D^{(*)0}pπ^-$ decays are worth observing in future experiments.