Absence of exotic hadrons in flux-tube quark models

Flux-tube quark models based upon strong-coupling QCD are studied in the limit of small coupling between different flux-tube topologies. In this limit, it is shown that no bound exotic states exist, in contrast with predictions made with bag and other mean-field and two-body potential quark models. Results are presented for the 2q-2q{}, 4q-q{}, and 6q sectors, and the various quark models are compared. The extent to which ``exotic'' states are observed experimentally can be regarded to some degree as a test of the relevance of strong-coupling-based flux-tube models.