Measurements of the branching fractions of $\Xi_c^0 \to \Lambda K_S^0$, $\Xi_c^0 \to \Sigma^0 K_S^0$, and $\Xi_c^0 \to \Sigma^+ K^-$ decays at Belle

TL;DR

This paper reports precise measurements of the branching fractions of specific decay modes of the $ ext{Xi}_c^0$ baryon using the Belle detector, including first-time measurements of some ratios, enhancing understanding of charmed baryon decays.

Contribution

The study provides the first measurements of certain $ ext{Xi}_c^0$ decay branching ratios and improves the precision of existing measurements using a large data sample from Belle.

Findings

Measured branching fraction ratios for $ ext{Xi}_c^0$ decays.

Determined absolute branching fractions with improved accuracy.

First-time measurement of some decay modes.

Abstract

Using the entire data sample of $980\mathrm{~fb}^{-1}$ collected with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy $e^+e^-$ collider, we present measurements of the branching fractions of the Cabibbo-favored decays $\Xi_c^0 \to \Lambda K_S^0$, $\Xi_c^0 \to \Sigma^0 K_S^0$, and $\Xi_c^0 \to \Sigma^+ K^-$. Taking the decay $\Xi_c^0 \to \Xi^- \pip$ as the normalization mode, we measure the branching fraction ratio ${\cal B}(\Xi_c^0 \to \Lambda K_S^0)/{\cal B}(\Xi_c^0 \to \Xi^- \pi^+) = 0.229\pm0.008\pm0.012$ with improved precision, and measure the branching fraction ratios ${\cal B}(\Xi_c^0 \to \Sigma^0 K_S^0)/{\cal B}(\Xi_c^0 \to \Xi^- \pi^+) = 0.038\pm0.006\pm0.004$ and ${\cal B}(\Xi_c^0 \to \Sigma^+ K^-)/{\cal B}(\Xi_c^0 \to \Xi^- \pi^+) = 0.123\pm0.007\pm0.010$ for the first time. Taking into account the branching fraction of the normalization mode, the absolute branching fractions are determined to be ${\cal B}(\Xi_c^0 \to \Lambda K_S^0) = (3.27\pm0.11\pm0.17\pm0.73) \times 10^{-3}$, ${\cal B}(\Xi_c^0 \to \Sigma^0 K_S^0) = (0.54\pm 0.09\pm 0.06\pm 0.12) \times 10^{-3}$, and ${\cal B}(\Xi_c^0 \to \Sigma^+ K^-) = (1.76\pm 0.10\pm0.14\pm 0.39) \times 10^{-3}$. The first and second uncertainties above are statistical and systematic, respectively, while the third ones arise from the uncertainty of the branching fraction of $\Xi_c^0 \to \Xi^- \pi^+$.