Selected open-charm decays of the narrow <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>P</mml:mi> <mml:mi>c</mml:mi> </mml:msub>

Abstract

The proximity of the narrow $P_c(4312)$, $P_c(4440)$, and $P_c(4457)$ structures to the $\Sigma_c\bar D^{(*)}$ thresholds motivates their interpretation as hadronic molecules. We treat the $P_c(4312)$ as an $S$-wave $\Sigma_c\bar D$ state with $J^P=1/2^-$ and examine both $J^P=1/2^-$ and $3/2^-$ $\Sigma_c\bar D^*$ assignments for each heavier peak. The selected $S$-wave open-charm transitions to $\Lambda_c\bar D^{(*)}$ are calculated at Born order in the quark-interchange model, including the prior and post rearrangement diagrams and their color, flavor, spin, and spatial matrix elements. Across the input variations considered, the quark-interchange widths robustly favor $\Lambda_c\bar D^*$ over $\Lambda_c\bar D$ for every $J^P=1/2^-$ assignment. At either heavier peak mass, the $\Lambda_c\bar D^*$ width for $J^P=3/2^-$ is suppressed by approximately one order of magnitude relative to $J^P=1/2^-$, providing a potential decay-based discriminator of the spin assignments. The large channel hierarchies arise from spatial overlaps and interference between spin-independent and hyperfine contributions and are not universal heavy-quark-spin-symmetry ratios. We also explore a retarded one-pion-exchange transition at first Born order. It affects $P_c(4312)\to\Lambda_c\bar D^*$ most strongly, while the coherent widths remain sensitive to the cutoff, energy-transfer prescription, short-distance subtraction, and unresolved relative matching sign. The quark-interchange hierarchies are therefore the central predictions, whereas the pion-exchange results quantify matching sensitivity. Measurements of the $\Lambda_c\bar D^*$ modes can directly test these patterns.