Direct Measurements of the Branching Fractions for the Semileptonic Decays $D^0 \to K^-\mu^+\nu_\mu$ and $D^0 \to \pi^-\mu^+\nu_\mu$

TL;DR

This paper reports the first direct measurement of the absolute branching fractions for the semileptonic decays of D^0 mesons to K^-μ^+ν_μ and π^-μ^+ν_μ using data from the BES-II detector, providing key insights into charm quark decays.

Contribution

The study provides the first direct measurements of the absolute branching fractions for D^0 decays to K^-μ^+ν_μ and π^-μ^+ν_μ, improving understanding of charm semileptonic decay processes.

Findings

BF(D^0→K^-μ^+ν_μ) = (3.55±0.56±0.59)%

BF(D^0→π^-μ^+ν_μ) = (0.38±0.30±0.10)%

Measured branching fraction used to determine decay ratio

Abstract

Based on the data sample of 33 pb$^{-1}$ collected at and around 3.773 GeV with the BES-II detector at the BEPC collider, the absolute branching fractions for the semileptonic decays $D^0\to K^-\mu^+\nu_\mu$ and $D^0\to\pi^-\mu^+\nu_\mu$ have been measured. In the system recoiling against $7584\pm198\pm341$ singly tagged $\bar D^0$ mesons, $87.2\pm13.6$ events for $D^0\to K^-\mu^+\nu_\mu$ and $9.3\pm7.4$ events for $D^0\to\pi^-\mu^+\nu_\mu$ are observed. These yield the absolute branching fractions to be $BF(D^0\to K^-\mu ^+\nu_\mu)= (3.55\pm0.56\pm0.59)%$ and $BF(D^0\to\pi^-\mu^+\nu_\mu)= (0.38\pm0.30\pm0.10)%$. The measured branching fraction for $D^0\to K^-\mu ^+\nu_\mu$ was previously used to determine the ratio $\Gamma(D^0\to K^-\mu^+\nu_\mu)/ \Gamma(D^+\to \bar K^0\mu^+\nu_\mu)$ combining the previously measured branching fraction for $D^+\to \bar K^0\mu^+\nu_\mu$ by the BES Collaboration.