Model-independent study of structure in $B^+\to D^+D^-K^+$ decays

TL;DR

This study uses a model-independent approach with LHCb data to investigate the decay $B^+ o D^+D^-K^+$, revealing evidence for new charm-strange resonances around 2.9 GeV/$c^2$ beyond known charmonium states.

Contribution

It presents a novel, model-independent analysis of $B^+ o D^+D^-K^+$ decays, providing evidence for previously unobserved charm-strange resonances.

Findings

Incomplete description assuming only charmonium states in $D^+D^-$ channel

Evidence for new charm-strange resonances around 2.9 GeV/$c^2$

Potential discovery of additional resonant contributions in $D^-K^+$ channel

Abstract

The only anticipated resonant contributions to $B^+\to D^+D^-K^+$ decays are charmonium states in the $D^+D^-$ channel. A model-independent analysis, using LHCb proton-proton collision data taken at centre-of-mass energies of $\sqrt{s}=7,8,$ and $13$ TeV, corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 9 fb$^{-1}$, is carried out to test this hypothesis. The description of the data assuming that resonances only manifest in decays to the $D^+D^-$ pair is shown to be incomplete. This constitutes evidence for a new contribution to the decay, potentially one or more new charm-strange resonances in the $D^-K^+$ channel with masses around 2.9 GeV$/c^2$.