Can chiral symmetry explain the small pentaquark width?

It is shown that the decay amplitude for the Jaffe-Wilczek type pentaquarks is not suppressed by chiral symmetry. On the other hand, pentaquarks of positive or negative parity built up of an antiquark and two chirally different diquarks in an S-state are stable in the limit of a strictly unbroken chiral symmetry. These states can decay only via the spontaneous breaking of chiral symmetry. However, this breaking is strong because of the sizeable magnitude of the quark condensate. Thus, chiral symmetry cannot be the cause of a tiny decay amplitude, even for pentaquarks which are stable in the strict chiral symmetry limit. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]