NCQ scaling of f0(980) elliptic flow in 200 GeV Au+Au collisions by STAR and its constituent quark content

Searching for exotic state particles and studying their properties have furthered our understanding of quantum chromodynamics (QCD). The f₀(980) resonance is an exotic state with relatively high production rate in relativistic heavy-ion collisions, decaying primarily into ππ. Currently the structure and quark content of the f₀(980) are unknown with several predictions from theory being a qq^¯ state, a qqq^¯q^¯ state, a KK^¯ molecule state, or a gluonium state. We report the first f₀(980) elliptic flow (v₂) measurement from 200 GeV Au+Au collisions at STAR. The transverse momentum dependence of v₂ is examined and compared to those of other hadrons (baryons and mesons). The empirical number of constituent quark (NCQ) scaling is used to investigate the constituent quark content of f₀(980), which may potentially address an important question in QCD.