arXiv subjects

A. A. Alves Jr

Publications and source records attributed to A. A. Alves Jr.

At least 217 records · Page 12Linked to original sources

arXiv2017

New algorithms for identifying the flavour of $B^0$ mesons using pions and protons

Two new algorithms for use in the analysis of $pp$ collision are developed to identify the flavour of $B^0$ mesons at production using pions and protons from the hadronization process. The algorithms are optimized and calibrated on data, using $B^0 \rightarrow D^- π^+$ decays from $pp$ collision data collected by LHCb at centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV. The tagging power of the new pion algorithm is 60 % greater than the previously available one; the algorithm using protons to identify the flavour of a $B^0$ meson is the first of its kind.

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arXiv2017

Measurements of the S-wave fraction in $B^{0}\rightarrow K^{+}π^{-}μ^{+}μ^{-}$ decays and the $B^{0}\rightarrow K^{\ast}(892)^{0}μ^{+}μ^{-}$ differential branching fraction

A measurement of the differential branching fraction of the decay ${B^{0}\rightarrow K^{\ast}(892)^{0}μ^{+}μ^{-}}$ is presented together with a determination of the S-wave fraction of the $K^+π^-$ system in the decay $B^{0}\rightarrow K^{+}π^{-}μ^{+}μ^{-}$. The analysis is based on $pp$-collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3\,fb$^{-1}$ collected with the LHCb experiment. The measurements are made in bins of the invariant mass squared of the dimuon system, $q^2$. Precise theoretical predictions for the differential branching fraction of $B^{0}\rightarrow K^{\ast}(892)^{0}μ^{+}μ^{-}$ decays are available for the $q^2$ region $1.1<q^2<6.0\,{\rm GeV}^2/c^4$. In this $q^2$ region, for the $K^+π^-$ invariant mass range $796 < m_{Kπ} < 996\,{\rm MeV}/c^2$, the S-wave fraction of the $K^+π^-$ system in $B^{0}\rightarrow K^{+}π^{-}μ^{+}μ^{-}$ decays is found to be \begin{equation*} F_{\rm S} = 0.101\pm0.017({\rm stat})\pm0.009 ({\rm syst}), \end{equation*} and the differential branching fraction of $B^{0}\rightarrow K^{\ast}(892)^{0}μ^{+}μ^{-}$ decays is determined to be \begin{equation*} {\rm d}\mathcal{B}/{\rm d} q^2 = (0.342_{\,-0.017}^{\,+0.017}({\rm stat})\pm{0.009}({\rm syst})\pm0.023({\rm norm}))\times 10^{-7}c^{4}/{\rm GeV}^{2}. \end{equation*} The differential branching fraction measurements presented are the most precise to date and are found to be in agreement with Standard Model predictions.

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arXiv2017

Measurement of the phase difference between short- and long-distance amplitudes in the $B^{+}\to K^{+}μ^{+}μ^{-}$ decay

A measurement of the phase difference between the short- and long-distance contributions to the $B^{+}\to K^{+}μ^{+}μ^{-}$ decay is performed by analysing the dimuon mass distribution. The analysis is based on $pp$ collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3 $\rm fb^{-1}$ collected by the LHCb experiment in 2011 and 2012. The long-distance contribution to the $B^{+}\to K^{+}μ^{+}μ^{-}$ decay is modelled as a sum of relativistic Breit--Wigner amplitudes representing different vector meson resonances decaying to muon pairs, each with their own magnitude and phase. The measured phases of the $J/ψ$ and $ψ(2S)$ resonances are such that the interference with the short-distance component in dimuon mass regions far from their pole masses is small. In addition, constraints are placed on the Wilson coefficients, $\mathcal{C}_{9}$ and $\mathcal{C}_{10}$, and the branching fraction of the short-distance component is measured.

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arXiv2017

Study of $J/ψ$ production in jets

The production of $J/ψ$ mesons in jets is studied in the forward region of proton-proton collisions using data collected with the LHCb detector at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The fraction of the jet transverse momentum carried by the $J/ψ$ meson, $z \equiv p_{\rm T}(J/ψ)/p_{\rm T}({\rm jet})$, is measured using jets with $p_{\rm T}({\rm jet}) > 20$ GeV in the pseudorapidity range $2.5 < η({\rm jet}) < 4.0$. The observed $z$ distribution for $J/ψ$ mesons produced in $b$-hadron decays is consistent with expectations. However, the results for prompt $J/ψ$ production do not agree with predictions based on fixed-order non-relativistic QCD. This is the first measurement of the $p_{\rm T}$ fraction carried by prompt $J/ψ$ mesons in jets at any experiment.

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arXiv2017

Observation of $B_{c}^{+} \to J/ψD^{()} K^{()}$ decays

A search for the decays $B_c^+ \to J/ψD^{(*)0} K^+$ and $B_c^+ \to J/ψD^{(*)+} K^{*0}$ is performed with data collected at the LHCb experiment corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3 fb$^{-1}$. The decays $B_c^+ \to J/ψD^0 K^+$ and $B_c^+ \to J/ψD^{*0} K^+$ are observed for the first time, while first evidence is reported for the $B_c^+ \to J/ψD^{*+} K^{*0}$ and $B_c^+ \to J/ψD^+ K^{*0}$ decays. The branching fractions of these decays are determined relative to the $B_c^+ \to J/ψπ^+$ decay. The $B_c^+$ mass is measured, using the $J/ψD^0 K^+$ final state, to be $6274.28 \pm 1.40 (stat) \pm 0.32 (syst)$ MeV/$c^2$. This is the most precise single measurement of the $B_c^+$ mass to date.

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arXiv2017

Observation of $B_{c}^{+} \rightarrow D^{0} K^{+}$ decays

Using proton-proton collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.0 fb$^{-1}$, recorded by the LHCb detector at centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV, the $B_{c}^{+} \rightarrow D^{0} K^{+}$ decay is observed with a statistical significance of 5.1 standard deviations. By normalising to $B^{+} \rightarrow \bar{D}^{0} π^{+}$ decays, a measurement of the branching fraction multiplied by the production rates for $B_{c}^{+}$ relative to $B^{+}$ mesons in the LHCb acceptance is obtained, $$ R_{D^{0} K} = \frac{f_{c}}{f_{u}}\times\mathcal{B}(B_{c}^{+} \rightarrow D^{0} K^{+}) = (9.3\,^{+2.8}_{-2.5} \pm 0.6) \times 10^{-7}\,, $$ where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic. This decay is expected to proceed predominantly through weak annihilation and penguin amplitudes, and is the first $B_{c}^{+}$ decay of this nature to be observed.

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arXiv2017

Search for decays of neutral beauty mesons into four muons

A search for the non-resonant decays $B^0_s \rightarrow μ^{+}μ^{-}μ^{+}μ^{-}$ and $B^0 \rightarrow μ^{+}μ^{-}μ^{+}μ^{-}$ is presented. The measurement is performed using the full Run 1 data set collected in proton-proton collisions by the LHCb experiment at the LHC. The data correspond to integrated luminosities of $1$ and $2~\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ collected at centre-of-mass energies of $7$ and $8~\mathrm{TeV}$, respectively. No signal is observed and upper limits on the branching fractions of the non-resonant decays at $95\%$ confidence level are determined to be \mathcal{B}(B^0_s \rightarrow μ^{+}μ^{-}μ^{+}μ^{-}) & < 2.5 \times 10^{-9} \mathcal{B}(B^0 \rightarrow μ^{+}μ^{-}μ^{+}μ^{-}) & < 6.9 \times 10^{-10}.

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arXiv2017

Measurement of the ratio of branching fractions and difference in $CP$ asymmetries of the decays $B^+\to J/ψπ^+$ and $B^+\to J/ψK^+$

The ratio of branching fractions and the difference in $CP$ asymmetries of the decays $B^+\to J/ψπ^+$ and $B^+\to J/ψK^+$ are measured using a data sample of $pp$ collisions collected by the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $3~{{\,\mbox{fb}^{-1}}}$ at centre-of-mass energies of 7 and $8~\mathrm{\,Te\kern -0.1em V}$. The results are \begin{equation*} {\mathcal{B}(B^+\to J/ψπ^+)\over\mathcal{B}(B^+\to J/ψK^+)}=(3.83\pm0.03\pm0.03)\times10^{-2}\,, \end{equation*} \begin{equation*} \mathcal{A}^{CP}(B^+\to J/ψπ^+)-\mathcal{A}^{CP}(B^+\to J/ψK^+)=(1.82\pm0.86\pm0.14)\times10^{-2}, \end{equation*} where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second are systematic. Combining this result with a recent LHCb measurement of $\mathcal{A}^{CP}(B^+\to J/ψK^+)$ provides the most precise estimate to date of $CP$ violation in the decay $B^+\to J/ψπ^+$, \begin{equation*} \mathcal{A}^{CP}(B^+\to J/ψπ^+) =(1.91\pm0.89\pm0.16)\times10^{-2}. \end{equation*}

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arXiv2017

Observation of the annihilation decay mode $B^{0}\to K^{+}K^{-}$

A search for the $B^{0}\to K^{+}K^{-}$ decay is performed using $pp$-collision data collected by LHCb. The data set corresponds to integrated luminosities of 1 and 2 fb$^{-1}$ at center-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV, respectively. This decay is observed for the first time, with a significance of more than five standard deviations. The analysis also results in an improved measurement of the branching fraction for the $B_s^0\to π^+π^-$ decay. The measured branching fractions are $BR(B^0\to K^+K^-) = (7.80 \pm 1.27 \pm 0.81 \pm 0.21) \times 10^{-8}$ and $BR(B_s^0\toπ^+π^-) = (6.91 \pm 0.54 \pm 0.63 \pm 0.19 \pm 0.40) \times 10^{-7}$. The first uncertainty is statistical, the second is systematic, the third is due to the uncertainty on the $B^0\to K^+π^-$ branching fraction used as a normalization. For the $B_s^0$ mode, the fourth accounts for the uncertainty on the ratio of the probabilities for $b$ quarks to hadronize into $B_s^0$ and $B^0$ mesons.

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arXiv2017

First experimental study of photon polarization in radiative $B^{0}_{s}$ decays

The polarization of photons produced in radiative $B^{0}_{s}$ decays is studied for the first time. The data are recorded by the LHCb experiment in $pp$ collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3fb$^{-1}$ at center-of-mass energies of $7$ and $8$TeV. A time-dependent analysis of the $B^{0}_{s} \to ϕγ$ decay rate is conducted to determine the parameter ${\mathcal{A}}^Δ$, which is related to the ratio of right- over left-handed photon polarization amplitudes in $b \to s γ$ transitions. A value of ${\mathcal{A}}^Δ=-0.98^{\,+0.46\,+0.23}_{\,-0.52\,-0.20}$ is measured. This result is consistent with the Standard Model prediction within two standard deviations.

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arXiv2017

Observation of $B^+\rightarrow J/ψ3π^+ 2π^-$ and $B^+\rightarrow ψ(2S) π^+π^+π^-$ decays

The decays $B^+\rightarrow J/ψ3π^+ 2π^-$ and $B^+\rightarrow ψ(2S) π^+π^+π^-$ are observed for the first time using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $3.0fb^{-1}$, collected by the LHCb experiment in proton-proton collisions at the centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV. The branching fractions relative to that of $B^+ \rightarrow ψ(2S)K^+$ are measured to be \begin{eqnarray*} \frac {\mathcal{B}\left(B^+\rightarrow J/ψ3π^+ 2π^- \right)} {\mathcal{B}\left(B^+ \rightarrow ψ(2S)K^+ \right)} & = & \left(1.88\pm0.17\pm0.09\right)\times10^{-2}, \frac {\mathcal{B}\left(B^+\rightarrow ψ(2S) π^+π^+π^- \right)} {\mathcal{B}\left(B^+ \rightarrow ψ(2S)K^+ \right)} & = & \left(3.04\pm0.50\pm0.26\right)\times10^{-2}, \end{eqnarray*} where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second are systematic.

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arXiv2017

MCBooster: a library for fast Monte Carlo generation of phase-space decays on massively parallel platforms

MCBooster is a header-only, C++11-compliant library that provides routines to generate and perform calculations on large samples of phase space Monte Carlo events. To achieve superior performance, MCBooster is capable to perform most of its calculations in parallel using CUDA- and OpenMP-enabled devices. MCBooster is built on top of the Thrust library and runs on Linux systems. This contribution summarizes the main features of MCBooster. A basic description of the user interface and some examples of applications are provided, along with measurements of performance in a variety of environments

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arXiv2017

Observation of the decay $Ξ_b^- \to p K^-K^-$

Decays of the $Ξ_b^-$ and $Ω_b^-$ baryons to the charmless final states $p h^{-}h^{\prime -}$, where $h^{(\prime)}$ denotes a kaon or pion, are searched for with the LHCb detector. The analysis is based on a sample of proton-proton collision data collected at centre-of-mass energies $\sqrt{s} = 7$ and $8 TeV$, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $3 {\rm fb}^{-1}$. The decay $Ξ_b^- \to p K^-K^-$ is observed with a significance of $8.7$ standard deviations, and evidence at the level of $3.4$ standard deviations is found for the $Ξ_b^- \to p K^-π^-$ decay. Results are reported, relative to the $B^-\to K^+K^-K^-$ normalisation channel, for the products of branching fractions and $b$-hadron production fractions. The branching fractions of $Ξ_b^- \to p K^-π^-$ and $Ξ_b^- \to p π^-π^-$ relative to $Ξ_b^- \to p K^-K^-$ decays are also measured.

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arXiv2017

Measurement of forward $t\overline{t}$, $W+b\overline{b}$ and $W+c\overline{c}$ production in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=8$ TeV

The production of $t\overline{t}$, $W+b\overline{b}$ and $W+c\overline{c}$ is studied in the forward region of proton-proton collisions collected at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV by the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.98 $\pm$ 0.02 $\mbox{fb}^{-1}$. The $W$ bosons are reconstructed in the decays $W\rightarrow\ellν$, where $\ell$ denotes muon or electron, while the $b$ and $c$ quarks are reconstructed as jets. All measured cross-sections are in agreement with next-to-leading-order Standard Model predictions.

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arXiv2017

Search for structure in the $B_s^0π^\pm$ invariant mass spectrum

The $B_s^0π^\pm$ invariant mass distribution is investigated in order to search for possible exotic meson states. The analysis is based on a data sample recorded with the LHCb detector corresponding to $3$ fb$^{-1}$ of $pp$ collision data at $\sqrt{s} = 7$ and $8$ TeV. No significant excess is found, and upper limits are set on the production rate of the claimed $X(5568)$ state within the LHCb acceptance. Upper limits are also set as a function of the mass and width of a possible exotic meson decaying to the $B_s^0π^\pm$ final state. The same limits also apply to a possible exotic meson decaying through the chain $B_s^{*0}π^\pm$, $B_s^{*0} \to B_s^0 γ$ where the photon is excluded from the reconstructed decays.

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arXiv2017

Search for the suppressed decays $B^{+}\rightarrow K^{+}K^{+}π^{-}$ and $B^{+}\rightarrow π^{+}π^{+}K^{-}$

A search is made for the highly-suppressed B meson decays $B^{+}\rightarrow K^{+}K^{+}π^{-}$ and $B^{+}\rightarrow π^{+}π^{+}K^{-}$ using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.0 $fb^{-1}$ collected by the LHCb experiment in proton-proton collisions at centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV. No evidence is found for the decays, and upper limits at 90\% confidence level are determined to be $\mathcal{B}(B^{+}\rightarrow K^{+}K^{+}π^{-}) < 1.1\times 10^{-8}$ and $\mathcal{B}(B^{+}\rightarrow π^{+}π^{+}K^{-}) < 4.6\times 10^{-8}$.

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arXiv2017

Search for the $C\!P$-violating strong decays $η\to π^+π^-$ and $η^\prime(958) \to π^+π^-$

A search for the $C\!P$-violating strong decays $η\to π^+π^-$ and $η^\prime(958) \to π^+π^-$ has been performed using approximately $2.5 \times 10^{7}$ events of each of the decays $D^+ \to π^+π^+π^-$ and $D_s^+ \to π^+π^+π^-$, recorded by the LHCb experiment. The data set corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 3.0 fb$^{-1}$ of $pp$ collision data recorded during LHC Run 1 and 0.3 fb$^{-1}$ recorded in Run 2. No evidence is seen for $D^+_{(s)} \to π^+ η^{(\prime)}$ with $η^{(\prime)} \to π^+π^-$, and upper limits at 90% confidence level are set on the branching fractions, $\mathcal{B}(η\to π^+π^-) < 1.6 \times 10^{-5}$ and $\mathcal{B}(η^\prime \to π^+π^-) < 1.8 \times 10^{-5}$. The limit for the $η$ decay is comparable with the existing one, while that for the $η^\prime$ is a factor of three smaller than the previous limit.

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arXiv2017

Measurement of the $B_{s}^{0} \rightarrow J/ψη$ lifetime

Using a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $3 fb^{-1}$, collected by the LHCb experiment in $pp$ collisions at centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV, the effective lifetime in the $B^0_s \rightarrow J/ψη$ decay mode, $τ_{\textrm{eff}}$, is measured to be $τ_{\textrm{eff}} = 1.479 \pm 0.034~\textrm{(stat)} \pm 0.011 ~\textrm{(syst)}$ ps. Assuming $CP$ conservation, $τ_{\textrm{eff}}$ corresponds to the lifetime of the light $B_s^0$ mass eigenstate. This is the first measurement of the effective lifetime in this decay mode.

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