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arXiv · 2410.13515

Observation of a rare beta decay of the charmed baryon with a Graph Neural Network

BESIII Collaboration·M. Ablikim·M. N. Achasov·P. Adlarson·O. Afedulidis·X. C. Ai·R. Aliberti·A. Amoroso·Q. An·Y. Bai·O. Bakina·I. Balossino·Y. Ban·H. -R. Bao·V. Batozskaya·K. Begzsuren·N. Berger·M. Berlowski·M. Bertani·D. Bettoni·F. Bianchi·E. Bianco·A. Bortone·I. Boyko·R. A. Briere·A. Brueggemann·H. Cai·X. Cai·A. Calcaterra·G. F. Cao·N. Cao·S. A. Cetin·J. F. Chang·G. R. Che·G. Chelkov·C. Chen·C. H. Chen·Chao Chen·G. Chen·H. S. Chen·H. Y. Chen·M. L. Chen·S. J. Chen·S. L. Chen·S. M. Chen·T. Chen·X. R. Chen·X. T. Chen·Y. B. Chen·Y. Q. Chen·Z. J. Chen·Z. Y. Chen·S. K. Choi·G. Cibinetto·F. Cossio·J. J. Cui·H. L. Dai·J. P. Dai·A. Dbeyssi·R. E. de Boer·D. Dedovich·C. Q. Deng·Z. Y. Deng·A. Denig·I. Denysenko·M. Destefanis·F. De Mori·B. Ding·X. X. Ding·Y. Ding·J. Dong·L. Y. Dong·M. Y. Dong·X. Dong·M. C. Du·S. X. Du·Y. Y. Duan·Z. H. Duan·P. Egorov·Y. H. Fan·J. Fang·S. S. Fang·W. X. Fang·Y. Fang·Y. Q. Fang·R. Farinelli·L. Fava·F. Feldbauer·G. Felici·C. Q. Feng·J. H. Feng·Y. T. Feng·M. Fritsch·C. D. Fu·J. L. Fu·Y. W. Fu·H. Gao·X. B. Gao·Y. N. Gao·Yang Gao
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Abstract

The beta decay of the lightest charmed baryon $\Lambda_c^+$ provides unique insights into the fundamental mechanism of strong and electro-weak interactions, serving as a testbed for investigating non-perturbative quantum chromodynamics and constraining the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix parameters. This article presents the first observation of the Cabibbo-suppressed decay $\Lambda_c^+ \rightarrow n e^+ \nu_{e}$, utilizing $4.5~\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ of electron-positron annihilation data collected with the BESIII detector. A novel Graph Neural Network based technique effectively separates signals from dominant backgrounds, notably $\Lambda_c^+ \rightarrow \Lambda e^+ \nu_{e}$, achieving a statistical significance exceeding $10\sigma$. The absolute branching fraction is measured to be $(3.57\pm0.34_{\mathrm{stat.}}\pm0.14_{\mathrm{syst.}})\times 10^{-3}$. For the first time, the CKM matrix element $\left|V_{cd}\right|$ is extracted via a charmed baryon decay as $0.208\pm0.011_{\rm exp.}\pm0.007_{\rm LQCD}\pm0.001_{\tau_{\Lambda_c^+}}$. This work highlights a new approach to further understand fundamental interactions in the charmed baryon sector, and showcases the power of modern machine learning techniques in experimental high-energy physics.

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BESIII Collaboration, M. Ablikim, M. N. Achasov, P. Adlarson, O. Afedulidis, X. C. Ai, R. Aliberti, A. Amoroso, Q. An, Y. Bai, O. Bakina, I. Balossino, Y. Ban, H. -R. Bao, V. Batozskaya, K. Begzsuren, N. Berger, M. Berlowski, M. Bertani, D. Bettoni, F. Bianchi, E. Bianco, A. Bortone, I. Boyko, R. A. Briere, A. Brueggemann, H. Cai, X. Cai, A. Calcaterra, G. F. Cao, N. Cao, S. A. Cetin, J. F. Chang, G. R. Che, G. Chelkov, C. Chen, C. H. Chen, Chao Chen, G. Chen, H. S. Chen, H. Y. Chen, M. L. Chen, S. J. Chen, S. L. Chen, S. M. Chen, T. Chen, X. R. Chen, X. T. Chen, Y. B. Chen, Y. Q. Chen, Z. J. Chen, Z. Y. Chen, S. K. Choi, G. Cibinetto, F. Cossio, J. J. Cui, H. L. Dai, J. P. Dai, A. Dbeyssi, R. E. de Boer, D. Dedovich, C. Q. Deng, Z. Y. Deng, A. Denig, I. Denysenko, M. Destefanis, F. De Mori, B. Ding, X. X. Ding, Y. Ding, J. Dong, L. Y. Dong, M. Y. Dong, X. Dong, M. C. Du, S. X. Du, Y. Y. Duan, Z. H. Duan, P. Egorov, Y. H. Fan, J. Fang, S. S. Fang, W. X. Fang, Y. Fang, Y. Q. Fang, R. Farinelli, L. Fava, F. Feldbauer, G. Felici, C. Q. Feng, J. H. Feng, Y. T. Feng, M. Fritsch, C. D. Fu, J. L. Fu, Y. W. Fu, H. Gao, X. B. Gao, Y. N. Gao, Yang Gao. 2024-10-17. Observation of a rare beta decay of the charmed baryon with a Graph Neural Network. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-55042-y

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