First observation and branching fraction measurement of the rare decay ∧ $^0$ $_b$ → pKμ $^+$ μ $^-$ at the LHCb experiment, CERN

Griffith, Peter Noel (2017). First observation and branching fraction measurement of the rare decay ∧ $^0$ $_b$ → pKμ $^+$ μ $^-$ at the LHCb experiment, CERN. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

The analysis for the first observation and branching fraction measurement of the rare decay ∧ $^0$ $_b$ → pKμ $^+$ μ $^-$ with respect to the control channel ∧ $^0$ $_b$ → J/ψ pK was performed. The analysis was kept blind in ∧ $^0$ $_b$ → pKμ $^+$ μ $^-$ to avoid selection bias as this decay is unobserved. The data is from proton-proton collisions recorded by the LHCb experiment in 2011 and 2012, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1 fb $^-$ $^1$ at 7 TeV and 2 fb $^-$ $^1$ at 8 TeV respectively. A corrected yield of (7.83 ± 0.131 ± 0.648) x 10 $^6$ ∧ $^0$ $_b$ → J/ψ Pk candidates was measured for the full 3 fb $^-$ $^1$ and the analysis is currently under review by the LHCb Collaboration, awaiting approval to un-blind for the branching fraction measurement of ∧ $^0$ $_b$ → pKμ $^+$ μ $^-$ .