Measurement of $B_c^+$ production in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=8$ TeV

TL;DR

This paper measures the production rate of $B_c^+$ mesons relative to $B^+$ mesons in proton-proton collisions at 8 TeV, providing detailed dependence on transverse momentum and rapidity with high precision.

Contribution

It presents the first detailed measurement of the $B_c^+$ production cross-section ratio as a function of kinematic variables at 8 TeV, using LHCb data.

Findings

The ratio of $B_c^+$ to $B^+$ production is approximately 0.683%.

The ratio varies with transverse momentum and rapidity within the studied ranges.

The measurement achieves high precision with combined statistical and systematic uncertainties.

Abstract

Production of $B_c^+$ mesons in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV is studied with data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $2.0~{\rm fb}^{-1}$ recorded by the LHCb experiment. The ratio of production cross-sections times branching fractions between the $B_c^+\to J/\psi \pi^+$ and $B^+\to J/\psi K^+$ decays is measured as a function of transverse momentum and rapidity in the regions $0 < p_{\rm T} < 20~{\rm GeV}/c$ and $2.0 < y < 4.5$. The ratio in this kinematic range is measured to be $(0.683\pm0.018\pm0.009)\%$, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic.