The Experimental Meson Spectrum

Clicking on a particle below will connect you directly to the PDG description (in postscript). Enigmatic particles are indicated with a *.


L=0 N=1

0-+ pi eta eta'*
1-- rho omega phi
0- K
1- K*


L=0 N=2

0-+ pi(1300) eta(1295) eta(1440)*
1-- rho(1450)* omega(1420)* phi(1680)
0- K (1460)
1- K^*(1410)*


L=1 N=1

1+-  b_1 h_1 h_1(1380)
0++ A B B
1++ a_1 f_1(1285) C
2++ a_2(1320) D f'_2(1525)

A $a_0 $a_0(1450)
B f_0(400) f_0 $f_0 $f_0(1500)
C f_1(1420) f_1(1510)
D f_2(1270) $f_2(1430) f_2(1565) f_2(1640) f_J(1710)

1+ K_1(1270)
0+ K^*_0(1430)
1+ K_1(1400) K_1(1650)
2+ K^*_2(1430)


Even by L=1, placing mesons into nonets becomes difficult. Hereafter, the states are ordered by isospin or quark content and JPCn. We follow the PDG for nonet placements, but in many cases these should be regarded as speculative.


Higher Mass I=0, I=1, K Mesons

JPC I=0 I=1 K
1-+ rho(1405)
2-+ eta_2(1645) eta_2(1870) pi_2(1670) pi_2(2100) K_2(1580) K_2(1770)
1-- omega(1600) rho(1700) rho(2150) K^*(1680)
2-- K_2(1820) K_2(2250)
3-- omega_3(1670) phi_3(1850) rho_3(1690) $\rho_3(2250)$ K^*_3(1780)
4++ f_4(2050) f_4(2300) a_4(2040) K^*_4(2045)
2++ f_2(1810) f_2(1950) f_2(2010) f_2(2150) K^*_2(1980)
xi(2230)* f_2(2300) f_2(2340)
0-+ eta(1760) eta(2225) pi(1800)* K(1830)
0++ f_0(2020) f_0(2060) f_0(2200) K^*_0(1950)
??? X (1650) X (1910) X (1775) X (2000)


Other

X (1600)* rho_5(2350) a_6(2450) f_6(2510) X (3250)

K_3(2330) K^*_5(2380) K_4(2500) K(3100)


D Mesons

0- D
1- D^*(2010)
1+ D_1(2420)
2+ D^*_2(2460)


Ds Mesons

0- D_s
(1-) D^*_s
1+ D_{s1}(2536)
(2+) D_{sJ}(2573)


B Mesons

0- B
1-  B^*
?? B^*_J(5732)


Bs Mesons

0- B_s$
1- B^*_s
?? B^*_{sJ}(5850)


Bc Mesons

B_c


Mesons

0-+ eta_c(2980)
1-- $J/\psi(3097) psi(3685) psi(3770) psi(4040) psi(4160) psi(4415)
0++ chi_{c 0}(3415)
1++ chi_{c 1}(3510)
2++ chi_{c 2}(3555)
??+ eta_ c(3590)


Mesons

1-- Upsilon(9460) Upsilon(10023) Upsilon(10355) Upsilon(10580) Upsilon(10860) Upsilon(11020)
0++
chi_{b 0}(9860) chi_{b 0}(10235)
1++ chi_{b 1}(9890) chi_{b 1}(10255)
2++ chi_{b 2}(9915) chi_{b 2}(10270)