Measurement of the total and leptonic decay widths of the $J/ψ$ resonance with an energy scan method at BESIII

Abstract

Using $e^+e^-$ annihilation data sets collected with the BESIII detector, we measure the cross sections of the processes $e^+e^- \to e^+e^-$ and $e^+e^- \to μ^+μ^-$ at fifteen center-of-mass energy points in the vicinity of the $J/ψ$ resonance. By a simultaneous fit to the measured, center-of-mass energy dependent cross sections of the two processes, the combined quantities $Γ_{ee} Γ_{ee} / Γ_{\rm tot}$ and $Γ_{ee} Γ_{μμ} / Γ_{\rm tot}$ are determined to be ($0.346 \pm 0.009$) and ($0.335 \pm 0.006$) keV, respectively, where $Γ_{ee}$, $Γ_{μμ}$, and $Γ_{\rm tot}$ are the electronic, muonic, and total decay widths of the $J/ψ$ resonance, respectively. Using the resultant $Γ_{ee} Γ_{μμ} / Γ_{\rm tot}$ and $Γ_{ee} Γ_{ee} / Γ_{\rm tot}$, the ratio $Γ_{ee} / Γ_{μμ}$ is calculated to be $1.031 \pm 0.015$, which is consistent with the expectation of lepton universality within about two standard deviations. Assuming lepton universality and using the branching fraction of the $J/ψ$ leptonic decay measured by BESIII in 2013, $Γ_{\rm tot}$ and $Γ_{ll}$ are determined to be ($93.0 \pm 2.1$) and ($5.56 \pm 0.11$) keV, respectively, where $Γ_{ll}$ is the average leptonic decay width of the $J/ψ$ resonance.

13 pages, 3 figures, to be submitted to Physics Letters B