Exclusive spin-2 glueball production associated with J/ψ from e ⁺e^- annihilation

A recent analysis of the angular distribution of J/ψ produced with a resonance in e⁺e^- annihilation by the Belle Collaboration disfavored the scenario of spin-0 glueball G₀ production associated with J/ψ. This had been introduced as a possible solution for the large discrepancy between theory and experiment in the cross section for e ⁺e^- → J/ψ + η_c. The cross section and the angular distribution for the spin-2 glueball (G₂) process e⁺e^- → J/ψ + G₂ is calculated by extending a previous study of the spin-0 case. The upper bound on the cross section is comparable to the leading-order nonrelativistic-quantum- chromodynamics predictions of σ(e⁺e^- → J/ψ + η_c). The angular distribution of the process e ⁺e^- → J/ψ + G₂ is proportional to 1 + cos² θ*, which is consistent with the Belle measurement.