arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Belle II Collaboration.
The Belle II experiment's ability to identify particles critically affects the sensitivity of its measurements. We describe Belle II's algorithms for identifying charged particles and evaluate their performance in separating pions, kaons, and protons using 426 fb$^{-1}$ of data collected at the energy-asymmetric $e^+e^-$ collider SuperKEKB in 2019--2022 at center-of-mass energies at and near the mass of the $Υ(4S)$.
We report measurements of time-dependent $CP$ asymmetries in $B^0 \to K^0_S π^0 γ$ decays based on a data sample of $(388\pm6)\times10^6$ $B\bar{B}$ events collected at the $Υ(4S)$ resonance with the Belle II detector. The Belle II experiment operates at the SuperKEKB asymmetric-energy $e^+e^-$ collider. We measure decay-time distributions to determine $CP$-violating parameters $S$ and $C$. We determine these parameters for two ranges of $K^0_S π^0$ invariant mass: $m(K^0_S π^0)\in (0.8, 1.0)$ $GeV/c^2$, which is dominated by $B^0 \to K^{*0} (\to K^0_S π^0) γ$ decays, and a complementary region $m(K^0_S π^0)\in (0.6, 0.8)\cup(1.0, 1.8)$ $GeV/c^2$. Our results have improved precision as compared to previous measurements and are consistent with theory predictions.
An absolute measurement of the $Λ^{+}_c$ lifetime is reported using $Λ_c^+\rightarrow pK^-π^+$ decays in events reconstructed from data collected by the Belle II experiment at the SuperKEKB asymmetric-energy electron-positron collider. The total integrated luminosity of the data sample, which was collected at center-of-mass energies at or near the $Υ(4S)$ resonance, is $207.2~\mbox{fb}^{-1}$. The result, $τ(Λ^{+}_c) = 203.20 \pm 0.89 \,\mathrm{(stat)} \pm 0.77 \,\mathrm{(syst)}$ fs, is the most precise measurement to date and is consistent with previous determinations.
We report a measurement of the $C\!P$-violating parameters $A$ and $S$ in $B^{0}\to K_{S}^{0} π^{0}$ decays at Belle II using a sample of $387\times 10^{6}$ $B\bar{B}$ events recorded in $e^{+}e^{-}$ collisions at a center-of-mass energy corresponding to the $Υ(4S)$ resonance. These parameters are determined by fitting the proper decay-time distribution of a sample of 415 signal events. We obtain $A = 0.04^{+0.15}_{-0.14}\pm 0.05$ and $S = 0.75^{+0.20}_{-0.23}\pm 0.04$, where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second are systematic.
We report decay-rate $CP$ asymmetries of the singly-Cabibbo-suppressed decays $Ξ_c^+\toΣ^+h^+h^-$ and $Λ_c^+\to ph^+h^-$, with $h=K,π$, measured using 428 fb$^{-1}$ of $e^+e^-$ collisions collected by the Belle II experiment at the SuperKEKB collider. The results, \begin{equation} A_{CP}(Ξ_c^+\toΣ^+K^+K^-) = (3.7\pm6.6\pm0.6)\%, \end{equation} \begin{equation} A_{CP}(Ξ_c^+\toΣ^+π^+π^-) = (9.5\pm6.8\pm0.5)\%, \end{equation} \begin{equation} A_{CP}(Λ_c^+\to pK^+K^-) = (3.9\pm1.7\pm0.7)\%, \end{equation} \begin{equation} A_{CP}(Λ_c^+\to pπ^+π^-) = (0.3\pm1.0\pm0.2)\%, \end{equation} where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second systematic, agree with $CP$ symmetry. From these results we derive the sums \begin{equation} A_{CP}(Ξ_c^+\toΣ^+π^+π^-) \, + \, A_{CP}(Λ_c^+\to pK^+K^-) = (13.4 \pm 7.0\pm 0.9)\%, \end{equation} \begin{equation} A_{CP}(Ξ_c^+\toΣ^+K^+K^-) \, + \, A_{CP}(Λ_c^+\to pπ^+π^-) = (\phantom{0}4.0 \pm 6.6\pm 0.7)\%, \end{equation} which are consistent with the $U$-spin symmetry prediction of zero. These are the first measurements of $CP$ asymmetries for individual hadronic three-body charmed-baryon decays.
We measure the time-integrated $CP$ asymmetry, $A_{CP}$, in $D^0\toπ^0π^0$ decays reconstructed in $e^+e^-\to c\bar{c}$ events collected by Belle II during 2019--2022. The data corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 428$\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$. The $D^0$ decays are required to originate from the flavor-conserving $D^{*+} \to D^0 π^+$ decay to determine the charm flavor at production time. Control samples of $D^0\to K^- π^+$ decays, with or without an associated pion from a $D^{*+}$ decay, are used to correct for detection asymmetries. The result, $A_{CP}(D^0\toπ^0π^0) = (0.30\pm 0.72\pm 0.20)\%$, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic, is consistent with $CP$ symmetry.
We measure the CP asymmetry in $D^+ \to π^+ π^0$ decays reconstructed in $e^+ e^-$ collisions at the Belle II experiment using a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 428 fb$^{-1}$. A control sample of $D^+ \to π^+ K_{S}$ decays is used to correct for detection and production asymmetries. The result, $A_{CP}(D^+ \to π^+π^0) =(-1.8 \pm 0.9 \pm 0.1)\%$, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic, is the most precise determination to date. It agrees with the prediction of CP symmetry from the standard model, and with results of previous measurements.
We present a measurement of the branching fraction and fraction of longitudinal polarization of $B^0 \to ρ^+ ρ^-$ decays, which have two $π^0$'s in the final state. We also measure time-dependent {\it CP} violation parameters for decays into longitudinally polarized $ρ^+ ρ^-$ pairs. This analysis is based on a data sample containing $(387\pm6) \times 10^6$ $Υ(4S)$ mesons collected with the Belle~II detector at the SuperKEKB asymmetric-energy $e^+e^-$ collider in 2019-2022. We obtain $\mathcal{B}(B^0\toρ^+ρ^-) = (2.89 ^{+0.23}_{-0.22} {}^{+0.29}_{-0.27}) \times 10^{-5}, f_{L} = 0.921 ^{+0.024}_{-0.025} {}^{+0.017}_{-0.015}$, \mbox{$S = -0.26\pm0.19\pm0.08$}, and $C = -0.02\pm0.12^{+0.06}_{-0.05}$, where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second are systematic. We use these results to perform an isospin analysis to constrain the CKM angle $ϕ_2$ and obtain two solutions; the result consistent with other Standard Model constraints is $ϕ_2 = (92.6^{+4.5}_{-4.7})^\circ$.
Precision studies of flavour-changing processes involving quarks and leptons provide a number of ways to improve knowledge of the Standard Model and search for physics beyond it. There are excellent short- and mid-term prospects for significantly improved measurements in heavy flavour physics (involving b and c hadrons and $τ$ leptons), with upgrades in progress or planned for the ATLAS, CMS and LHCb experiments exploiting proton-proton collisions at CERN's Large Hadron Collider, and for the Belle II experiment operating with electron-positron collisions from the SuperKEKB accelerator in KEK. The expected sensitivities that can be achieved from these experiments for a number of key observables are presented, highlighting the complementarity of the different experiments and showing how the precision will improve with time. This international programme in heavy flavour physics will result in unprecedented capability to probe this sector of the Standard Model and, potentially, observe imprints of physics at higher energy scales than can be accessed directly.
We present a search for the rare flavor-changing neutral-current decay $B^0 \to K^{\ast 0} τ^+ τ^-$ with data collected by the Belle II experiment at the SuperKEKB electron-positron collider. The analysis uses a 365 fb$^{-1}$ data sample recorded at the center-of-mass energy of the $Υ(4S)$ resonance. One of the $B$ mesons produced in the $Υ(4S)\to B^0 \bar{B}^0$ process is fully reconstructed in a hadronic decay mode, while its companion $B$ meson is required to decay into a $K^{\ast 0}$ and two $τ$ leptons of opposite charge. The $τ$ leptons are reconstructed in final states with a single electron, muon, charged pion or charged $ρ$ meson, and additional neutrinos. We set an upper limit on the branching ratio of $BR(B^0 \to K^{\ast 0} τ^+ τ^-) < 1.8 \times 10^{-3}$ at the 90% confidence level, which is the most stringent constraint reported to date.
We present measurements of $B \to K{}^{*}(892)γ$ decays using $365\,{\rm fb}^{-1}$ of data collected from 2019 to 2022 by the Belle~II experiment at the SuperKEKB asymmetric-energy $e^+e^-$ collider. The data sample contains $(387 \pm 6) \times 10^6$ $Υ(4S)$ events. We measure branching fractions ($\mathcal{B}$) and $C\!P$ asymmetries ($\mathcal{A}_{C\!P}$) for both $B^{0}\to K{}^{*0}γ$ and $B^{+}\to K{}^{*+}γ$ decays. The difference in $C\!P$ asymmetries ($Δ\mathcal{A}_{C\!P}$) and the isospin asymmetry ($Δ_{0+}$) between these neutral and charged channels are also measured. We obtain the following branching fractions and $C\!P$ asymmetries: $\mathcal{B} (B^{0} \to K{}^{*0}γ) = (4.14 \pm 0.10 \pm 0.11 ) \times 10^{-5}$, $\mathcal{B} (B^{+} \to K{}^{*+}γ) = (4.04 \pm 0.13 {}^{+0.13}_{-0.15} )\times 10^{-5}$, $\mathcal{A}_{C\!P} (B^{0} \to K{}^{*0}γ) = (-3.3 \pm 2.3 \pm 0.4 )\%$, and $\mathcal{A}_{C\!P} (B^{+} \to K{}^{*+}γ) = (-0.7 \pm 2.9 \pm 0.5 )\%$. The measured difference in $C\!P$ asymmetries is $Δ\mathcal{A}_{C\!P} = (+2.6 \pm 3.8 \pm 0.6 )\%$, and the measured isospin asymmetry is $Δ_{0+} = (+4.8 \pm 2.0 \pm 1.8 )\%$. The first uncertainties listed are statistical and the second are systematic. These results are consistent with world-average values and theory predictions.
We measure the branching fraction of the decay $B^0 \to J/ψω$ using data collected with the Belle II detector at the SuperKEKB collider. The data contain $(387 \pm 6) \times 10^6$ $B\overline{B}$ meson pairs produced in energy-asymmetric $e^+e^-$ collisions at the $Υ(4S)$ resonance. The measured branching fraction $\mathcal{B}(B^0 \to J/ψω) = \left( 2.16 \pm 0.30 \pm 0.14 \right) \times 10^{-5}$, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic, is more precise than previous results and constitutes the first observation of the decay with a significance of $6.5$ standard deviations.
We present a measurement of the branching fraction of $B^+\toτ^+ν_τ$ decays using $(387\pm6)\times 10^6$ $Υ(4S)$ collected between 2019 and 2022 with the Belle II detector at the SuperKEKB $e^+e^-$ collider. We reconstruct the accompanying $B^-$ meson using the hadronic tagging method, while $B^+\toτ^+ν_τ$ candidates are identified in the recoil. We find evidence for $B^+\toτ^+ν_τ$ decays at 3.0 standard deviations, including systematic uncertainties. The measured branching fraction is $\mathcal{B}(B^+\toτ^+ν_τ) = [1.24 \pm 0.41 (\text{stat.}) \pm 0.19 (\text{syst.})] \times 10^{-4}$.
We present a measurement of the branching fraction and time-dependent charge-parity ($CP$) decay-rate asymmetries in $B^0 \to J/ψπ^0$ decays. The data sample was collected with the Belle~II detector at the SuperKEKB asymmetric $e^+e^-$ collider in 2019-2022 and contains $(387\pm 6)\times 10^6$ $B\overline{B}$ meson pairs from $Υ(4S)$ decays. We reconstruct $392\pm 24$ signal decays and fit the $CP$ parameters from the distribution of the proper-decay-time difference of the two $B$ mesons. We measure the branching fraction to be $B(B^0 \to J/ψπ^0)=(2.00 \pm 0.12 \pm 0.09)\times 10^{-5}$ and the direct and mixing-induced $CP$ asymmetries to be $C_{CP}=0.13 \pm 0.12 \pm 0.03$ and $S_{CP}=-0.88 \pm 0.17 \pm 0.03$, respectively, where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second are systematic. We observe mixing-induced $CP$ violation with a significance of $5.0$ standard deviations for the first time in this mode.
We measure the branching fraction and $\it CP$-violating flavor-dependent rate asymmetry of $B^{0} \to π^{0} π^{0}$ decays reconstructed using the Belle II detector in an electron-positron collision sample containing $387 \times 10^{6}$ $B\overline{B}$ pairs. Using an optimized event selection, we find $126\pm 20$ signal decays in a fit to background-discriminating and flavor-sensitive distributions. The resulting branching fraction is $(1.25 \pm 0.23)\times 10^{-6}$ and the $\it CP$-violating asymmetry is $0.03 \pm 0.30$.
We report a measurement of the $e^+e^- \to π^+π^-π^0$ cross section in the energy range from 0.62 to 3.50 GeV using an initial-state radiation technique. We use an $e^+e^-$ data sample corresponding to 191 $\text{fb}^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity, collected at a center-of-mass energy at or near the $Υ{(4S)}$ resonance with the Belle II detector at the SuperKEKB collider. Signal yields are extracted by fitting the two-photon mass distribution in $e^+e^- \to π^+π^-π^0γ$ events, which involve a $π^0 \to γγ$ decay and an energetic photon radiated from the initial state. Signal efficiency corrections with an accuracy of 1.6% are obtained from several control data samples. The uncertainty on the cross section at the $ω$ and $ϕ$ resonances is dominated by the systematic uncertainty of 2.2%. The resulting cross sections in the 0.62-1.80 GeV energy range yield $ a_μ^{3π} = [48.91 \pm 0.23~(\mathrm{stat}) \pm 1.07~(\mathrm{syst})] \times 10^{-10} $ for the leading-order hadronic vacuum polarization contribution to the muon anomalous magnetic moment. This result differs by $2.5$ standard deviations from the most precise current determination.
We describe a measurement of charge-parity ($CP$) violation asymmetries in $B^0\toη'K^0_S$ decays using Belle II data. We consider $η'\toη(\toγγ)π^+π^-$ and $η'\toρ(\toπ^+π^-)γ$ decays. The data were collected at the SuperKEKB asymmetric-energy $e^+e^-$ collider between the years 2019 and 2022, and contain $(387\pm 6) \times 10^6$ bottom-antibottom meson pairs. We reconstruct $829\pm35$ signal decays and extract the $CP$ violating parameters from a fit to the distribution of the proper-decay-time difference between the two $B$ mesons. The measured direct and mixing-induced $CP$ asymmetries are $\text{C}_{η'K^0_S} = -0.19 \pm 0.08 \pm 0.03 $ and $\text{S}_{η'K^0_S} = +0.67 \pm 0.10 \pm 0.04 $, respectively, where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second are systematic. These results are in agreement with current world averages and standard model predictions.
We present the result of a search for the charged-lepton-flavor violating decay $τ^- \to μ^-μ^+μ^-$ using a $424fb^{-1}$ sample of data recorded by the Belle II experiment at the SuperKEKB $e^{-}e^{+}$ collider. The selection of $e^{-}e^{+}\toτ^+τ^-$ events is based on an inclusive reconstruction of the non-signal tau decay, and on a boosted decision tree to suppress background. We observe one signal candidate, which is compatible with the expectation from background processes. We set a $90\%$ confidence level upper limit of $1.9 \times 10^{-8}$ on the branching fraction of the \taumu decay, which is the most stringent bound to date.