Measurement of the Branching Fraction of and Search for a CP-Violating Asymmetry in $η' \to π^+ π^- e^+ e^-$ at BESIII
The rare decay $η' \to π^+ π^- e^+ e^-$ is studied using a sample of $1.3 \times 10^9$ $J/ψ$ events collected with the BESIII detector at BEPCII in 2009 and 2012. The branching fraction is measured with improved precision to be $\left( 2.42\pm0.05_{stat.}\pm0.08_{syst.} \right) \times 10^{-3}$. Due to the inclusion of new data, this result supersedes the last BESIII result on this branching fraction. In addition, the CP-violating asymmetry in the angle between the decay planes of the $π^+π^-$-pair and the $e^+e^-$-pair is investigated. A measurable value would indicate physics beyond the standard model; the result is $\mathcal{A}_{CP} = \left(2.9\pm3.7_{stat.}\pm1.1_{syst.} \right)\%$, which is consistent with the standard model expectation of no CP-violation. The precision is comparable to the asymmetry measurement in the $K^0_L\toπ^+π^-e^+e^-$ decay where the observed $(14\pm2)\%$ effect is driven by a standard model mechanism.