Angular distribution of polarised $\Lambda_b$ baryons decaying to $\Lambda \ell^+\ell^-$

Abstract

Rare $b \to s\ell^+\ell^-$ flavour-changing-neutral-current processes provide important tests of the Standard Model of particle physics. Angular observables in exclusive $b \to s\ell^+\ell^-$ processes can be particularly powerful as they allow hadronic uncertainties to be controlled. Amongst the exclusive processes that have been studied by experiments, the decay $\Lambda_b\to \Lambda\ell^+\ell^-$ is unique in that the $\Lambda_b$ baryon can be produced polarised. In this paper, we derive an expression for the angular distribution of the $\Lambda_b\to \Lambda\ell^+\ell^-$ decay for the case where the $\Lambda_b$ baryon is produced polarised. This extends the number of angular observables in this decay from 10 to 34. Standard Model expectations for the new observables are provided and the sensitivity of the observables is explored under a variety of new physics models. At low-hadronic recoil, four of the new observables have a new short distance dependence that is absent in the unpolarised case. The remaining observables depend on the same short distance contributions as the unpolarised observables, but with different dependence on hadronic form-factors. These relations provide possibilities for novel tests of the SM that could be carried out with the data that will become available at the LHC or a future $e^+e^-$ collider.