B Decay Studies at SLD

TL;DR

This paper reports preliminary results from SLD on B decays, including a search for b->s gluon, a measurement of B -> D D-bar X branching ratio, and B lifetime measurements, utilizing advanced vertexing and particle identification techniques.

Contribution

First measurements of B decay processes at SLD using CCD vertex detector and Cherenkov Ring Imaging Detector, providing new limits and branching ratios.

Findings

BR(b->sg) < 7.6% limit established

BR(B -> D D-bar X) measured as 16.2%

B+ and B0 lifetimes measured with high precision

Abstract

We present three preliminary results from SLD on B decays: an inclusive search for the process b-> s gluon, a measurement of the branching ratio for the process B -> D D-bar X, and measurements of the charged and neutral B lifetimes. All three measurements make use of the excellent vertexing efficiency and resolution of the CCD Vertex Detector and the first two make use of the excellent particle identification capability of the Cherenkov Ring Imaging Detector. The b->sg analysis searches for an enhancement of high momentum charged kaons produced in B decays. Within the context of a simple, Jetset-inspired model of b->sg, a limit of BR(b->sg) < 7.6% is obtained. The B -> D D-bar X analysis reconstructs two secondary vertices and uses identified charged kaons to determine which of these came from charm decays. The result of the analysis is BR(B -> D D-bar X) = (16.2 +/- 1.9 +/- 4.2)%. The results of lifetime analysis are: \tau_{B^+} = 1.686 +/-0.025 +/- 0.042 ps, \tau_{B^0} = 1.589 +/- 0.026 +/- 0.055 ps and $\tau_{B^+}/\tau_{B^0} = 1.061 +/- ^{0.031}_{0.029} +/- 0.027.