Search for Baryons in the Radiative Penguin Decay b--> s gamma

Abstract

We have searched for the baryon-containing radiative penguin decays B^- -> Λp-bar γand B^- -> Σ^0 p-bar γ, using a sample of 9.7 million BBbar events collected at the Υ(4S) with the CLEO detector. We find no evidence for either, and set 90% confidence level upper limits for photons with B rest frame energy greater than 2.0 GeV of [Br(B^- -> Λp-bar γ) + 0.3 Br(B^- -> Σ^0 p-bar γ)] < 3.3 x 10^-6, [Br(B^- -> Σ^0 p-bar γ) + 0.4 Br(B^- -> Λp-bar γ)] < 6.4 x 10^-6. From the latter, we estimate (for photons with B rest frame energy greater than 2.0 GeV) Br(B -> X_s γ, X_s containing baryons) < 3.8 x 10^-5. This limit implies upper limits on corrections to CLEO's recent measurement of branching fraction, mean photon energy, and variance in photon energy from b -> s γthat are less than half the combined statistical and systematic errors quoted on these quantities.

8 pages postscript, also available through http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLNS, submitted to PRD Rapid Communication