Revisiting ${\eta }^{\mathrm{\prime }}(958)$ nuclear states

Observing ${\eta }^{\mathrm{\prime }}$-nuclear quasibound states requires that the ${\eta }^{\mathrm{\prime }}$-nuclear potential is both sufficiently attractive and weakly absorptive, as confirmed by the CBELSA/TAPS collaboration analysis of inclusive ${\eta }^{\mathrm{\prime }}$ production experiments on nuclear targets, including liquid hydrogen (LH${}_2$). Here we present an alternative derivation of the ${\eta }^{\mathrm{\prime }}$-nuclear potential, constrained by near-threshold $pp\to pp{\eta }^{\mathrm{\prime }}$ and $\gamma p\to {\eta }^{\mathrm{\prime }}p$ production experiments on a free proton. The resulting ${\eta }^{\mathrm{\prime }}$-nuclear potential is weakly attractive and strongly absorptive, to the extent that observation of clear signals of ${\eta }^{\mathrm{\prime }}$-nuclear quasibound states is unlikely. Possible exceptions resulting from the dynamics of the nearby $I=\frac{1}{2}$ $J=(\frac{1}{2}{)}^{-}$ nucleon resonance $N^{\ast }$(1895) are briefly discussed.