Observation of Exclusive Two-Body B Decays to Kaons and Pions

TL;DR

This paper reports the first observation of specific two-body charmless B meson decays into kaons and pions, using data from the CLEO-II detector, and sets limits on other decay modes.

Contribution

It provides the first experimental evidence for certain B meson decay channels into kaons and pions, expanding understanding of charmless hadronic B decays.

Findings

First observation of B0→K+π− decay

First observation of B+→K0π+ decay

Observation of combined B+→π+π0 and B+→K+π0 decays

Abstract

We have studied two-body charmless hadronic decays of B mesons into the final states $\pi\pi$, $K \pi$, and $KK$. Using 3.3 million $B\bar{B}$ pairs collected with the CLEO-II detector, we have made the first observation of the decays $B^0\to K^+\pi^-$, $B^+\to K^0\pi^+$, and the sum of $B^+ \to \pi^+\pi^0$ and $B^+ \to K^+\pi^0$ decays (an average over charge-conjugate states is always implied). We place upper limits on branching fractions for the remaining decay modes.