Search for B(s) and B to dimuon decays in pp collisions at 7 TeV

TL;DR

This paper reports a search for rare B meson decays to dimuons in proton-proton collisions at 7 TeV, setting upper limits on their branching fractions consistent with the Standard Model predictions.

Contribution

First search for B(s) and B0 to dimuon decays at 7 TeV with CMS, providing new upper limits on their branching fractions.

Findings

No significant excess observed over background.

Upper limit on B(B(s) to mu+ mu-) < 1.9 x 10^-8.

Upper limit on B(B0 to mu+ mu-) < 4.6 x 10^-9.

Abstract

A search for the rare decays B(s) to dimuons and B0 to dimuons is performed in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV, with a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.14 inverse femtobarns, collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. In both cases, the number of events observed after all selection requirements is consistent with expectations from background and standard-model signal predictions. The resulting upper limits on the branching fractions are B(B(s) to mu^+ mu^-) < 1.9 10^-8 and B(B0 to mu^+ mu^-) < 4.6 10^-9, at 95% confidence level.