Variational Monte Carlo study of pentaquark states in a correlated quark model

Accurate numerical solution of the five‐body Schrodinger equation is effected via variational Monte Carlo. The spectrum is assumed to exhibit a narrow resonance with strangeness S = +1. A fully antisymmetrized and pair‐correlated five‐quark wave function is obtained for the assumed non‐relativistic Hamiltonian which has spin, isospin, and color dependent pair interactions and many‐body confining terms which are fixed by the non‐exotic spectra. Gauge field dynamics are modeled via flux tube exchange factors. The energy determined for the ground states with Jπ = 12−(12+) is 2.22 GeV (2.50 GeV). A lower energy negative parity state is consistent with recent lattice results. The short‐range structure of the state is analyzed via its diquark content.