Abstract. Several experimental groups have reported evidence for baryons with flavor exotic quantum numbers that cannot be explained as qqq bound states but require a minimum of five quarks -qqqqq. These pentaquark states include the θ + , the Ξ −− and the θc. The reported widths of these new states are consistent with experimental resolution and may be as narrow as a few MeV/c 2 or less. Prior to 2003, experimental searches for flavor exotic baryons spanning several decades yielded negative results. There have also been a number of searches carried out since the reports of these new pentaquark states that do not confirm their existence. This review of both the positive and negative reports seeks to understand the current situation regarding the experimental evidence for pentaquarks.
IntroductionIt is noteworthy that except for one or two possible exceptions in the meson sector, the hundreds of known hadrons can be described as bound states of three quarks (qqq), in the case of baryons, or a quark and anti-quark (qq), in the case of mesons. There have been reports of possible evidence of mesons with exotic J P C quantum numbers, not possible for qq, but until 2003, no reports of baryons with quantum numbers inconsistent with qqq. There were searches in the 1960's and 1970's for what was then referred to as the Z * -a baryon with positive strangeness. The review by Hey and Kelly [1] discusses these early searches, mostly in bubble chamber experiments, and a more recent review by Trilling of the current exotic baryon sightings [2] lists publications reporting on bubble chamber experiments with incident π and K beams searching for the Z * . Those experiments found no enhancements in S = +1 baryon channels. Indeed the failure to find such flavor exotic baryons in the 1960's and 1970's lent credence to the then nascent quark model.