4 p decay modes of the f 0(1500) resonance

Abstract We investigate the two-body decay modes ρρ, ππ ∗ (1300) and σσ of the f0(1500), all leading to the 4π decay channel, in a three-state mixing scheme, where the f0(1500) is a mixture of the lowest-lying scalar glueball with the nearby isoscalar states of the 0 ++ Q Q nonet. In the leading order of this scheme, the decay mechanism of the f0(1500) proceeds dominantly via its quarkonia components, which can be described in the framework of the 3P0 Q Q pair creation model. We predict the hierarchy of decay branching ratios B with B(ρρ)≳B(ππ)≳B(σσ)>B(ππ ∗ ) , providing a key signature for the proposed mixing scheme in this leading order approach.