Branching fraction and CP asymmetry of the decays $B^+ \to K_{\rm \scriptscriptstyle S}^0 \pi^+$ and $B^+ \to K_{\rm \scriptscriptstyle S}^0 K^+$

TL;DR

This paper measures branching fractions and CP asymmetries of specific B meson decays using LHCb data, providing new experimental results and setting upper limits on rare decay modes.

Contribution

First measurement of branching ratios and CP asymmetries for $B^+ o K_S^0 o ext{pi}^+$ and $K^+$ decays with LHCb data, including a search for $B_c^+$ decay modes.

Findings

Branching ratio of $B^+ o K_S^0 K^+$ relative to $B^+ o K_S^0 ext{pi}^+$ is 0.064 ± 0.009 (stat) ± 0.004 (syst).

CP asymmetry for $B^+ o K_S^0 ext{pi}^+$ is -0.022 ± 0.025 (stat) ± 0.010 (syst).

Upper limit on $B_c^+ o K_S^0 K^+$ decay relative to $B^+ o K_S^0 ext{pi}^+$ is less than 5.8×10^{-2} at 90% CL.

Abstract

An analysis of $B^+ \to K_{\rm \scriptscriptstyle S}^0 \pi^+$ and $B^+ \to K_{\rm \scriptscriptstyle S}^0 K^+$ decays is performed with the LHCb experiment. The $pp$ collision data used correspond to integrated luminosities of $1{\,fb}^{-1}$ and $2{\,fb}^{-1}$ collected at centre-of-mass energies of $\sqrt{s}=7\mathrm{\,Te\kern -0.1em V}$ and $\sqrt{s}=8\mathrm{\,Te\kern -0.1em V}$, respectively. The ratio of branching fractions and the direct {\it CP} asymmetries are measured to be $\mathcal{B}(B^+ \to K_{\rm \scriptscriptstyle S}^0 K^+)/\mathcal{B}(B^+ \to K_{\rm \scriptscriptstyle S}^0 \pi^+) = 0.064 \pm 0.009\textrm{(stat.)} \pm 0.004\textrm{(syst.)}$, $\mathcal{A}^{\it CP}(B^+ \to K_{\rm \scriptscriptstyle S}^0 \pi^+) = -0.022 \pm 0.025\textrm{(stat.)} \pm 0.010\textrm{(syst.)}$ and $\mathcal{A}^{\it CP}(B^+ \to K_{\rm \scriptscriptstyle S}^0 K^+) = -0.21 \pm 0.14\textrm{(stat.)} \pm 0.01\textrm{(syst.)}$. The data sample taken at $\sqrt{s}=7\mathrm{\,Te\kern -0.1em V}$ is used to search for $B_c^+ \to K_{\rm \scriptscriptstyle S}^0 K^+$ decays and results in the upper limit $(f_c\cdot\mathcal{B}(B_c^+ \to K_{\rm \scriptscriptstyle S}^0 K^+))/(f_u\cdot\mathcal{B}(B^+ \to K_{\rm \scriptscriptstyle S}^0 \pi^+)) < 5.8\times10^{-2}\textrm{at 90% confidence level}$, where $f_c$ and $f_u$ denote the hadronisation fractions of a $\bar{b}$ quark into a $B_c^+$ or a $B^+$ meson, respectively.