# Observation of charmless baryonic decays $B^0_{(s)} \to p \overline{p} h^+ h^{\prime-}$

## TL;DR

This paper reports the first observation of four-body charmless baryonic decays of $B^0$ and $B_s^0$ mesons, using LHCb data, with significant signals and measured branching fractions, advancing understanding of baryonic B decays.

## Contribution

It presents the first observation of certain four-body charmless baryonic B meson decays and measures their branching fractions relative to a known channel.

## Key findings

- First observation of $B_s^0$ decays to $p ar{p} h^+ h^{ ext{'}-}$.
- Significant signals for multiple decay modes with over 5 sigma significance.
- Branching fractions measured relative to $B^0 o J/ar{p} K^*(892)^0$.

## Abstract

Decays of $B^0$ and $B_{s}^0$ mesons to the charmless baryonic final states $p \overline{p} h^+ h^{\prime-}$, where $h$ and $h^\prime$ each denote a kaon or a pion, are searched for using the LHCb detector. The analysis is based on a sample of proton-proton collision data collected at center-of-mass energies of $7$ and $8\,$TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $3\,$fb$^{-1}$. Four-body charmless baryonic $B_{s}^0$ decays are observed for the first time. The decays $B^0_{s}\to p \overline{p} K^+ K^-$, $B^0_{s}\to p \overline{p} K^\pm \pi^\mp$, $B^0\to p \overline{p} K^\pm \pi^\mp$ and $B^0\to p \overline{p} \pi^+\pi^-$ are observed with a significance greater than $5$ standard deviations; evidence at $4.1$ standard deviations is found for the $B^0\to p \overline{p} K^+ K^-$ decay and an upper limit is set on the branching fraction for $B^0_{s}\to p \overline{p} \pi^+ \pi^-$. Branching fractions in the kinematic region $m(p \overline{p})<2850\,$MeV$/c^2$ are measured relative to the $B^0 \to J/\psi (\to p \overline{p}) K^*(892)^0$ channel.