A Study of B+->p pbar K+ and a Search for a Theta*++ Pentaquark Candidate in B Decay

TL;DR

This paper measures the decay rate of B+->ppbarK+ and searches for a potential pentaquark state Theta*++ in B decays, providing new upper limits on its production.

Contribution

It reports the first measurement of the B+->ppbarK+ branching fraction and sets a new upper limit on the Theta*++ pentaquark candidate in B decays.

Findings

Branching fraction of B+->ppbarK+ is (6.7±0.9±0.6)×10^-6.

Upper limit on B+->Theta*++pbar is 1.5×10^-7 at 90% confidence level.

No evidence found for the Theta*++ pentaquark in the specified mass range.

Abstract

A study of the decay B+->ppbarK+ is performed using 81fb-1 of data collected at the Upsilon(4S) with the BaBar detector at PEP-II. The branching fraction of B+->ppbarK+ is measured to be (6.7+/-0.9+/-0.6)x10^-6. An upper limit on the branching fraction of B+->Theta*++pbar, where Theta*++ is a narrow state decaying to pK+, is set to be 1.5x10^-7 for 1.43<m(Theta*++)<1.85GeV/c^2 at 90% confidence level. All results are preliminary.