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H. Afsharnia

Publications and source records attributed to H. Afsharnia.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Improved branching-fraction measurements of $B^0_{(s)} \to K_S^0 h^+ h^{'-}$ decays and first observation of $B^0_{s} \to K_S^0 K^+ K^-$

This paper presents a study of the charmless three-body decays ${B^0_{(s)} \to K_{\mathrm{S}}^0 h^+ h^{\prime -}}$ (where $h^{(\prime)} = π, K$), using a sample of $pp$ collision data collected by the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $9\mbox{\,fb}^{-1}$. The decay ${B^0_s \to K_{\mathrm{S}}^0 K^+ K^-}$ is observed for the first time, and the following ratios of branching fractions are measured: \begin{alignat*}{6} &\frac{{\cal B}(B^0 \to K^0_{\mathrm{S}} K^+ K^-)}{{\cal B}(B^0 \to K^0_{\mathrm{S}} π^+π^-)} &&= 0.578 &&\pm 0.007 &&\pm 0.017\,, &\frac{{\cal B}(B^0 \to K^0_{\mathrm{S}} K^\pmπ^\mp)}{{\cal B}(B^0 \to K^0_{\mathrm{S}} π^+π^-)} &&= 0.1363 &&\pm 0.0035 &&\pm 0.0051\,, &\frac{{\cal B}(B^0_s \to K^0_{\mathrm{S}} π^+π^-)}{{\cal B}(B^0 \to K^0_{\mathrm{S}} π^+π^-)} &&= 0.269 &&\pm 0.011 &&\pm 0.015 && \pm 0.008\,, &\frac{{\cal B}(B^0_s \to K^0_{\mathrm{S}} K^+ K^-)}{{\cal B}(B^0 \to K^0_{\mathrm{S}} π^+π^-)} &&= 0.0303 &&\pm 0.0041 &&\pm 0.0025 && \pm 0.0009\,, &\frac{{\cal B}(B^0_s \to K^0_{\mathrm{S}} K^\pmπ^\mp)}{{\cal B}(B^0 \to K^0_{\mathrm{S}} π^+π^-)} &&= 1.818 &&\pm 0.021 &&\pm 0.031 && \pm 0.056\,, \end{alignat*} where the uncertainties are statistical, systematic, and due to knowledge of the ratio of hadronisation fractions of the $B^0_s$ and $B^0$ mesons, respectively.

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A measurement of $ΔΓ_{s}$

Using a dataset corresponding to $9~\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity collected with the LHCb detector between 2011 and 2018 in proton-proton collisions, the decay-time distributions of the decay modes $B_s^0 \rightarrow J/ψη'$ and $B_s^0 \rightarrow J/ψπ^{+} π^{-}$ are studied. The decay-width difference between the light and heavy mass eigenstates of the $B_s^0$ meson is measured to be $ΔΓ_s = 0.087 \pm 0.012 \pm 0.009 \, \mathrm{ps}^{-1}$, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic.

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Measurement of the $D^{*}$ longitudinal polarization in $B^0\to D^{*-}τ^{+}ν_τ$ decays

The longitudinal polarization fraction of the $D^{*}$ meson is measured in $B^0\to D^{*-}τ^{+}ν_τ$ decays, where the $τ$ lepton decays to three charged pions and a neutrino, using proton-proton collision data collected by the LHCb experiment at center-of-mass energies of 7, 8 and 13 TeV and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5 fb$^{-1}$. The $D^{*}$ polarization fraction $F_{L}^{D^{*}}$ is measured in two $q^{2}$ regions, below and above 7 GeV$^{2}/c^{4}$, where $q^{2}$ is defined as the squared invariant mass of the $τν_τ$ system. The $F_{L}^{D^{*}}$ values are measured to be $0.52 \pm 0.07 \pm 0.04$ and $0.34 \pm 0.08 \pm 0.02$ for the lower and higher $q^{2}$ regions, respectively. The first uncertainties are statistical and the second systematic. The average value over the whole $q^{2}$ range is: $$F_{L}^{D^{*}} = 0.41 \pm 0.06 \pm 0.03.$$ These results are compatible with the Standard Model predictions.

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Measurement of $Ξ_{c}^{+}$ production in $p$Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=8.16$ TeV at LHCb

A study of prompt $Ξ_{c}^{+}$ production in proton-lead collisions is performed with the LHCb experiment at a centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of 8.16 TeV in 2016 in $p$Pb and Pb$p$ collisions with an estimated integrated luminosity of approximately 12.5 and 17.4 nb$^{-1}$, respectively. The $Ξ_{c}^{+}$ production cross-section, as well as the $Ξ_{c}^{+}$ to $Λ_{c}^{+}$ production cross-section ratio, are measured as a function of the transverse momentum and rapidity and compared to latest theory predictions. The forward-backward asymmetry is also measured as a function of the $Ξ_{c}^{+}$ transverse momentum.

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The LHCb upgrade I

The LHCb upgrade represents a major change of the experiment. The detectors have been almost completely renewed to allow running at an instantaneous luminosity five times larger than that of the previous running periods. Readout of all detectors into an all-software trigger is central to the new design, facilitating the reconstruction of events at the maximum LHC interaction rate, and their selection in real time. The experiment's tracking system has been completely upgraded with a new pixel vertex detector, a silicon tracker upstream of the dipole magnet and three scintillating fibre tracking stations downstream of the magnet. The whole photon detection system of the RICH detectors has been renewed and the readout electronics of the calorimeter and muon systems have been fully overhauled. The first stage of the all-software trigger is implemented on a GPU farm. The output of the trigger provides a combination of totally reconstructed physics objects, such as tracks and vertices, ready for final analysis, and of entire events which need further offline reprocessing. This scheme required a complete revision of the computing model and rewriting of the experiment's software.

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Observation of strangeness enhancement with charmed mesons in high-multiplicity $p\mathrm{Pb}$ collisions at $\sqrt {s_{\mathrm{NN}}}=8.16\,$TeV

The production of prompt $D^+_{s}$ and $D^+$ mesons is measured by the LHCb experiment in proton-lead ($p\mathrm{Pb}$) collisions in both the forward ($1.5<y^*<4.0$) and backward ($-5.0<y^*<-2.5$) rapidity regions at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt {s_{\mathrm{NN}}}=8.16\,$TeV. The nuclear modification factors of both $D^+_{s}$ and $D^+$ mesons are determined as a function of transverse momentum, $p_{\mathrm{T}}$, and rapidity. In addition, the $D^+_{s}$ to $D^+$ cross-section ratio is measured as a function of the charged particle multiplicity in the event. An enhanced $D^+_{s}$ to $D^+$ production in high-multiplicity events is observed for the whole measured $p_{\mathrm{T}}$ range, in particular at low $p_{\mathrm{T}}$ and backward rapidity, where the significance exceeds six standard deviations. This constitutes the first observation of strangeness enhancement in charm quark hadronization in high-multiplicity $p\mathrm{Pb}$ collisions. The results are also qualitatively consistent with the presence of quark coalescence as an additional charm quark hadronization mechanism in high-multiplicity proton-lead collisions.

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Measurement of the mass difference and relative production rate of the $Ω^-_b$ and $Ξ^-_b$ baryons

The mass difference between the $Ω^-_b$ and $Ξ^-_b$ baryons is measured using proton-proton collision data collected by the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $9 \, \text{fb}^{-1}$, and is found to be \begin{equation} m(Ω^-_b)- m(Ξ^-_b) = 248.54 \pm 0.51 \text{(stat)} \pm 0.38 \text{(syst)} \, \text{MeV}/c^2. \end{equation} The mass of the $Ω^-_b$ baryon is measured to be \begin{equation} m(Ω^-_b)= 6045.9 \pm 0.5 \text{(stat)} \pm 0.6 \text{(syst)} \, \text{MeV}/c^2. \end{equation} This is the most precise determination of the $Ω^-_b$ mass to date. In addition, the production rate of $Ω^-_b$ baryons relative to that of $Ξ^-_b$ baryons is measured for the first time in $pp$ collisions, using an LHCb dataset collected at a center-of-mass energy of $13 \, \text{TeV}$ and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $6\,\text{fb}^{-1}$. Reconstructing beauty baryons in the kinematic region $2 < η< 6$ and $p_T < 20\,\text{GeV}/c$ with their decays to a $J/ψ$ meson and a hyperon, the ratio \begin{equation} \frac{f_{Ω^-_b}}{f_{Ξ^-_b}}\times\frac{\mathcal{B}(Ω^-_b \to J/ψΩ^-)}{\mathcal{B}(Ξ^-_b \to J/ψΞ^-)} = 0.120 \pm 0.008 \text{(stat)} \pm 0.008 \text{(syst)}, \end{equation} is obtained, where $f_{Ω^-_b}$ and $f_{Ξ^-_b}$ are the fragmentation fractions of $b$ quarks into $Ω^-_b$ and $Ξ^-_b$ baryons, respectively, and $\mathcal{B}$ represents the branching fractions of their respective decays.

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Observation of new baryons in the $Ξ_b^-π^+π^-$ and $Ξ_b^0π^+π^-$ systems

The first observation and study of two new baryonic structures in the final state $Ξ_b^0π^+π^-$ and the confirmation of the $Ξ_b(6100)^-$ state in the $Ξ_b^-π^+π^-$ decay mode are reported using proton-proton collision data collected by the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9$\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$. In addition, the properties of the known $Ξ_b^{*0}$, $Ξ_b^{'-}$ and $Ξ_b^{*-}$ resonances are measured with improved precision. The new decay mode of the $Ξ_b^0$ baryon to the $Ξ_c^+π^-π^+π^-$ final state is observed and exploited for the first time in these measurements.

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Search for prompt production of pentaquarks in charm hadron final states

A search for hidden-charm pentaquark states decaying to a range of $Σ_{c}\bar{D}$ and $Λ_{c}\bar{D}$ final states, as well as doubly-charmed pentaquark states to $Σ_{c}D$ and $Λ_{c}^{+}D$, is made using samples of proton-proton collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $5.7fb^{-1}$ recorded by the LHCb detector at $\sqrt{s} = 13Te\kern -0.1em V$. Since no significant signals are found, upper limits are set on the pentaquark yields relative to that of the $Λ_{c}^{+}$ baryon in the $Λ_{c}^{+}\to pK^{-}π^{+}$ decay mode. The known pentaquark states are also investigated, and their signal yields are found to be consistent with zero in all cases.

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Measurement of associated $J/ψ$-$ψ(2S)$ production cross-section in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV

The cross-section of associated $J/ψ$-$ψ(2S)$ production in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV is measured using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.2 fb$^{-1}$, collected by the LHCb experiment. The measurement is performed for both $J/ψ$ and $ψ(2S)$ mesons having transverse momentum $p_{\text{T}}<14$ GeV/$c$ and rapidity $2.0<y<4.5$, assuming negligible polarisation of the $J/ψ$ and $ψ(2S)$ mesons. The production cross-section is measured to be $4.5\pm0.7\pm0.3$ nb, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic. The differential cross-sections are measured as functions of several kinematic variables of the $J/ψ$-$ψ(2S)$ candidates. The results are combined with a measurement of $J/ψ$-$J/ψ$ production, giving a cross-section ratio between $J/ψ$-$ψ(2S)$ and $J/ψ$-$J/ψ$ production of $0.274\pm0.044\pm0.008$, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic.

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Test of lepton flavour universality using $B^0 \to D^{*-}τ^+ν_τ$ decays with hadronic $τ$ channels

The branching fraction $\mathcal{B}(B^0 \to D^{*-}τ^+ν_τ)$ is measured relative to that of the normalization mode $B^0 \to D^{*-}π^+π^-π^+$ using hadronic $τ^+ \to π^+π^-π^+(π^0)\overlineν_τ$ decays in proton-proton collision data at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV collected by the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2 fb$^{-1}$. The measured ratio is $\mathcal{B}(B^0 \to D^{*-}τ^+ν_τ)/\mathcal{B}(B^0 \to D^{*-}π^+π^-π^+) = 1.79 \pm 0.11 \pm 0.11$, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is related to systematic effects. Using established branching fractions for the $B^0 \to D^{*-}π^+π^-π^+$ and $B^0 \to D^{*-}μ^+ν_μ$ modes, the lepton universality test, $\mathcal{R}(D^{*-}) \equiv \mathcal{B}(B^0 \to D^{*-}τ^+ν_τ)/\mathcal{B}(B^0 \to D^{*-}μ^+ν_μ)$ is calculated, $$ \mathcal{R}(D^{*-}) = 0.260 \pm 0.015 \pm 0.016 \pm 0.012\, , $$ where the third uncertainty is due to the uncertainties on the external branching fractions. This result is consistent with the Standard Model prediction and with previous measurements.

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Study of coherent $J/ψ$ production in lead-lead collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 5 TeV$

Coherent production of $J/ψ$ mesons is studied in ultraperipheral lead-lead collisions at a nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass energy of 5 TeV, using a data sample collected by the LHCb experiment corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about $10 μb^{-1}$. The $J/ψ$ mesons are reconstructed in the dimuon final state and are required to have transverse momentum below 1 GeV. The cross-section within the rapidity range of $2.0 < y < 4.5$ is measured to be $4.45\pm0.24\pm0.18\pm0.58$ mb, where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second systematic and the third originates from the luminosity determination. The cross-section is also measured in $J/ψ$ rapidity intervals. The results are compared to predictions from phenomenological models.

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Prompt and nonprompt $ψ(2S)$ production in $p$Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=8.16$ TeV

The production of $ψ(2S)$ mesons in proton-lead collisions at a centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=8.16$ TeV is studied with the LHCb detector using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 nb$^{-1}$. The prompt and nonprompt $ψ(2S)$ production cross-sections and the ratio of the $ψ(2S)$ to $J/ψ$ cross-section are measured as a function of the meson transverse momentum and rapidity in the nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass frame, together with forward-to-backward ratios and nuclear modification factors. The production of prompt $ψ(2S)$ is observed to be more suppressed compared to $pp$ collisions than the prompt $J/ψ$ production, while the nonprompt productions have similar suppression factors.

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Measurement of the CKM angle $γ$ in the $B^0 \to DK^{*0}$ channel using self-conjugate $D \to K_S^0 h^+ h^-$ decays

A model-independent study of CP violation in $B^0 \to DK^{*0}$ decays is presented using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9fb$^{-1}$ collected by the LHCb experiment at centre-of-mass energies of $\sqrt{s}=7, \, 8$ and $13$TeV. The CKM angle $γ$ is determined by examining the distributions of signal decays in phase-space bins of the self-conjugate $D \to K_S^0 h^+ h^-$ decays, where $h = π, K$. Observables related to CP violation are measured and the angle $γ$ is determined to be $γ=(49^{+ 22}_{-19})^\circ$. Measurements of the amplitude ratio and strong-phase difference between the favoured and suppressed $B^0$ decays are also presented.

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Measurement of the CKM angle $γ$ using the $B^{\pm}\rightarrow D^{*} h^{\pm}$ channels

A measurement of the $CP$-violating observables from $B^{\pm}\rightarrow D^* K^{\pm}$ and $B^{\pm}\rightarrow D^* π^{\pm}$ decays is presented, where $D^* (D) $ is an admixture of $D^{*0}$ and $\bar{D}^{*0}$ ($D^0$ and $\bar{D}^0$) states and is reconstructed through the decay chains $ D^* \rightarrow Dπ^0/γ$ and $D \to K_S^0 π^+π^-/K_S^0 K^+K^-$. The measurement is performed by analysing the signal yield variation across the $D$ decay phase space and is independent of any amplitude model. The data sample used was collected by the LHCb experiment in proton-proton collisions and corresponds to a total integrated luminosity of 9 fb$^{-1}$ at centre-of-mass energies of 7, 8 and 13 TeV. The CKM angle $γ$ is determined to be $(69^{+13}_{-14})^{\circ}$ using the measured $CP$-violating observables. The hadronic parameters $r^{D^* K^{\pm}}_B, r^{D^* π^{\pm}}_B, δ^{D^* K^{\pm}}_B, δ^{D^* π^{\pm}}_B$, which are the ratios and strong phase differences between favoured and suppressed $B^{\pm}$ decays, are also reported.

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Measurement of $J/ψ$-pair production in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV and study of gluon transverse-momentum dependent PDFs

The production cross-section of $J/ψ$ pairs in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV is measured using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.2 fb$^{-1}$ collected by the LHCb experiment. The measurement is performed with both $J/ψ$ mesons in the transverse momentum range $0<p_{\text{T}}<14$ GeV/$c$ and rapidity range $2.0<y<4.5$. The cross-section of this process is measured to be 16.36$\pm$0.28(stat)$\pm$0.88(syst) nb. The contributions from single-parton scattering and double-parton scattering are separated based on the dependence of the cross-section on the absolute rapidity difference $Δy$ between the two $J/ψ$ mesons. The effective cross-section of double-parton scattering is measured to be $σ_{\text{eff}}=$13.1$\pm$1.8(stat)$\pm$2.3(syst) mb. The distribution of the azimuthal angle $ϕ_{\text{CS}}$ of one of the $J/ψ$ mesons in the Collins-Soper frame and the $p_{\text{T}}$-spectrum of the $J/ψ$ pairs are also measured for the study of the gluon transverse-momentum dependent distributions inside protons. The extracted values of $\langle\cos2ϕ_{\text{CS}}\rangle$ and $\langle\cos4ϕ_{\text{CS}}\rangle$ are consistent with zero, but the presence of azimuthal asymmetry at a few percent level is allowed.

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Search for $\textit{CP}$ violation in the phase space of $D^{0} \rightarrow K_{S}^{0} K^{\pm} π^{\mp} $ decays with the energy test

A search for $\textit{CP}$ violation in $D^{0} \rightarrow K_{S}^{0} K^{+} π^{-} $ and $D^{0} \rightarrow K_{S}^{0} K^{-} π^{+} $ decays is reported. The search is performed using an unbinned model-independent method known as the energy test that probes local $\textit{CP}$ violation in the phase space of the decays. The data analysed correspond to an integrated luminosity of $5.4~$fb$^{-1}$ collected in proton-proton collisions by the LHCb experiment at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=13$~TeV, amounting to approximately 950 thousand and 620 thousand signal candidates for the $D^{0} \rightarrow K_{S}^{0} K^{-} π^{+} $ and $D^{0} \rightarrow K_{S}^{0} K^{+} π^{-} $ modes, respectively. The method is validated using $D^{0} \rightarrow K^{-} π^{+} π^{-} π^{+} $ and $D^{0} \rightarrow K_{S}^{0} π^{+} π^{-} $ decays, where $\textit{CP}$-violating effects are expected to be negligible, and using background-enhanced regions of the signal decays. The results are consistent with $\textit{CP}$ symmetry in both the $D^{0} \rightarrow K_{S}^{0} K^{-} π^{+} $ and the $D^{0} \rightarrow K_{S}^{0} K^{+} π^{-} $ decays, with $p$-values for the hypothesis of no $\textit{CP}$ violation of 70% and 66%, respectively.

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Search for $CP$ violation in the phase space of $D^0 \to π^-π^+π^0$ decays with the energy test

A search for $CP$ violation in $D^0 \to π^-π^+π^0$ decays is reported, using $pp$ collision data collected by the LHCb experiment from 2015 to 2018 corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 6$fb^{-1}$. An unbinned model-independent approach provides sensitivity to local $CP$ violation within the two-dimensional phase space of the decay. The method is validated using the Cabibbo-favoured channel $\D^0 \to \K^-π^+π^0$ and background regions of the signal mode. The results are consistent with $CP$ symmetry in this decay.

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