Study of the $B^0 \to Λ_c^+ \barΛ_c^- K_S^0$ decay

Abstract

The decay $B^0 \to Λ_c^+ \barΛ_c^- K_S^0$ is studied at LHCb for the first time using proton-proton collision data recorded by the LHCb experiment at a center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.4 fb$^{-1}$. The branching ratio relative to the decay $B^+ \to Λ_c^+ \barΛ_c^- K^+$ is measured to be $$ \frac{{\cal B}(B^0 \to Λ_c^+ \barΛ_c^- K_S^0)}{{\cal B}(B^+ \to Λ_c^+ \barΛ_c^- K^+)} = 0.53 \pm 0.05 \pm 0.05, $$ where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic. Evidence is found for contributions from two resonant states, $Ξ_c(2923)^+$ and $Ξ_c(2939)^+$, in the $Λ_c^+ K_S^0$ system. The two states show a significance of $3.9σ$ relative to the nonresonant hypothesis. These two $Ξ_c^+$ states are consistent with being the isospin partners of the states observed in $Λ_c^+ K^-$ system.

All figures and tables, along with machine-readable versions and any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://lbfence.cern.ch/alcm/public/analysis/full-details/4095/ (LHCb public pages)