Searches for the rare hadronic decays $B^0 \rightarrow p\bar{p}p\bar{p}$ and $B^0_{s} \rightarrow p\bar{p}p\bar{p}$

TL;DR

This paper reports the first observation and measurement of the rare hadronic decays of B mesons into four-proton final states using LHCb data, with significance levels exceeding 4 sigma.

Contribution

It provides the first evidence and precise branching fraction measurements for the decays $B^0 ightarrow par{p}par{p}$ and $B_s^0 ightarrow par{p}par{p}$, expanding understanding of rare B meson decays.

Findings

Significance of 9.3 sigma for $B^0$ decay

Significance of 4.0 sigma for $B_s^0$ decay

Branching fractions measured as approximately 2.2 and 2.3 times 10^{-8}

Abstract

Searches for the rare hadronic decays $B^0 \rightarrow p\bar{p}p\bar{p}$ and $B^0_{s} \rightarrow p\bar{p}p\bar{p}$ are performed using proton-proton collision data recorded by the LHCb experiment and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9$\rm{fb}^{-1}$. Significances of $9.3\,\sigma$ and $4.0\,\sigma$, including statistical and systematic uncertainties, are obtained for the $B^0 \rightarrow p\bar{p}p\bar{p}$ and $B^0_{s} \rightarrow p\bar{p}p\bar{p}$ signals, respectively. The branching fractions are measured relative to the topologically similar normalisation decays $B^0 \rightarrow J/\psi(\rightarrow p\bar{p}) K^{*0}(\rightarrow K^+ \pi^-)$ and $B^0_{s} \rightarrow J/\psi(\rightarrow p\bar{p}) \phi(\rightarrow K^+ K^-)$. The branching fractions are measured to be $ \mathcal{B}(B^0 \rightarrow p\bar{p}p\bar{p}) = ( 2.2 \pm 0.4 \pm 0.1 \pm 0.1 ) \times 10^{-8} $ and $ \mathcal{B}(B^0_{s} \rightarrow p\bar{p}p\bar{p}) = ( 2.3 \pm 1.0 \pm 0.2 \pm 0.1 ) \times 10^{-8}$. In these measurements, the first uncertainty is statistical, the second is systematic and the third one is due to the external branching fraction of the normalisation channel.