QCD Sum Rules and the Lowest-Lying I=0 Scalar Resonance

A QCD Laplace sum rule framework is employed to investigate the relationship between the mass and the decay width of the sigma, the lowest-lying isoscalar resonance in the spin-zero meson channel. Our analysis differs from prior analyses, not only by incorporating finite-width departures from the narrow resonance approximation, but also through the inclusion of direct-instanton contributions and three-loop-order perturbative effects. Assuming that the sigma is the dominant subcontinuum resonance in this channel, the least upper bound we obtain for the sigma-mass is shown to increase with the sigma-width, and suggests that a sigma lighter than 800 MeV should have a total width substantially smaller than its mass.