arXiv subjects

J. E. Blank

Publications and source records attributed to J. E. Blank.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2025

First measurement of $b$-jet mass with and without grooming

The LHCb collaboration presents a novel suite of heavy-flavour jet substructure measurements at forward rapidity in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV. The jet mass is a perturbatively calculable probe of the virtuality of hard-scattered quarks and gluons, connecting small-distance quantum chromodynamics (QCD) with long-distance experimental measurement. It becomes dominated by nonperturbative corrections at small values, presenting an excellent test of QCD across a broad range of energies. Measuring heavy-flavour jet mass with a theoretically unambiguous flavour definition for the first time probes the gluon splitting mechanism for heavy-flavour production and pushes tests of perturbative QCD to unprecedented theoretical precision. Utilising the soft drop jet-grooming technique to access the perturbative jet core further enhances constraints on first-principles theory. Measurements of the jet mass for jets containing fully reconstructed $B^\pm$ hadrons are reported with and without grooming. These results offer unparalleled tests of quark flavour and mass dependence in QCD and provide a baseline for future studies of heavy-flavour jet quenching in heavy-ion collisions.

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arXiv2025

Measurement of the Lund plane for light- and beauty-quark jets

The substructure of jets in quantum chromodynamics (QCD) has garnered significant attention with the advent of infrared- and collinear-safe clustering algorithms and observables. A key question emerging from these studies is how in-jet emissions at soft and hard energy scales, across collinear and wide angles relative to the emitter, differ with the mass of the emitting parton. The Lund jet plane (LJP) is a perturbatively well-defined substructure observable that maps the radiation pattern of jets onto a plane, visually distinguishing emissions with different kinematic properties. Comparing LJP for jets containing hadrons of low versus high mass enables the testing of QCD splitting functions from first-principles calculations across both soft and hard regimes and at different radiation angles. This article presents the first measurement of the LJP for light-quark-enriched and beauty-initiated jets at center-of-mass energy of 13\tev at LHCb. This marks the first direct observation of the dead-cone effect in beauty-quark jets, measured in the collinear region of the LJP.

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arXiv2025

Rapidity and multiplicity dependence of charged-particle flow in $p$Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 8.16$ TeV

The elliptic and triangular flow of charged particles are measured using two-particle angular correlations in $p$Pb collisions in the pseudorapidity range \cal{2.0 $< |η| <$ 4.8}. The data sample was collected by the LHCb experiment in 2016 at a centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 8.16$ TeV, containing in total approximately 1.5 billion collision events. Non-flow contributions are obtained in low-multiplicity collisions and subtracted to extract the flow harmonics. The results are presented as a function of event multiplicity and hadron transverse momentum. Comparisons with a full (3+1)D dynamic model indicate that it overestimates the measured elliptic flow. A comparison between the forward and backward regions reveals no significant differences in flow parameters, suggesting that final-state effects may dominate over initial-state effects in the origin of flow in small systems.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2025

Observation of the doubly-charmed-baryon decay ${\it Ξ}_{cc}^{++}\to{\it Ξ}_{c}^{0}π^{+}π^{+}$

A search for the doubly-charmed-baryon decay ${\it Ξ}_{cc}^{++}\to{\it Ξ}_{c}^{0}π^{+}π^{+}$ is performed using proton-proton collision data collected by the LHCb experiment at a centre-of-mass energy of $13\text{TeV}$ and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $5.4\text{fb}^{-1}$. A significant structure consistent with the ${\it Ξ}_{cc}^{++}$ baryon is observed in the ${\it Ξ}_{c}^{0} π^{+}π^{+}$ invariant-mass spectrum. Using the ${\it Ξ}_{cc}^{++}\to{\it Λ}_{c}^{+}K^{-}π^{+}π^{+}$ decay as the normalisation channel, the branching fraction ratio, $\frac{{\cal B}({\it Ξ}_{cc}^{++} \to {\it Ξ}_{c}^{0}π^{+}π^{+})} {{\cal B}({\it Ξ}_{cc}^{++}\to{\it Λ}_{c}^{+} K^{-}π^{+}π^{+})}$, is measured to be $1.37\pm 0.18\text{(stat)} \pm 0.09\text{(syst)} \pm 0.35\text{(ext)}$. This measurement provides critical input for testing QCD factorisation methods in the weak decays of doubly-heavy baryons, particularly in quantifying nonperturbative effects such as final-state interactions and resonance contributions to the hadronisation process.

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arXiv2025

Measurement of branching fractions and $CP$ asymmetries in $\mathitΛ_b^0(\mathitΞ_b^0)\!\to pK_{\mathrm S}^0h^-$ decays

A study of $\mathitΛ_b^0$ and $\mathitΞ_b^0$ baryon decays to the final states $pK_{\mathrm S}^0π^-$ and $pK_{\mathrm S}^0K^-$ is performed using $pp$ collision data collected by the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $9\,\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$. The decays $\mathitΛ_b^0\!\to pK_{\mathrm S}^0K^-$ and $\mathitΞ_b^0\!\to pK_{\mathrm S}^0K^-$ are observed for the first time, with significances reaching eight standard deviations. The branching fractions and integrated $CP$ asymmetries are measured for the $\mathitΛ_b^0\!\to pK_{\mathrm S}^0π^-$, $\mathitΛ_b^0\!\to pK_{\mathrm S}^0K^-$, and $\mathitΞ_b^0\!\to pK_{\mathrm S}^0K^-$ decays. For the decay $\mathitΛ_b^0\!\to pK_{\mathrm S}^0π^-$, the $CP$ asymmetries are measured in different regions of the Dalitz plot. No evidence of $CP$ violation is observed.

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arXiv2025

Measurement of the Z-boson mass

The first dedicated $Z$-boson mass measurement at the LHC with $Z \to μ^+μ^-$ decays is reported. The dataset uses proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of $13$ TeV, recorded in 2016 by the LHCb experiment, and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of $1.7$ fb$^{-1}$. A template fit to the $μ^+μ^-$ mass distribution yields the following result for the $Z$-boson mass, \begin{equation*} m_{Z} = 91185.7 \pm 8.3 \pm 3.9 \rm{MeV}, \end{equation*} where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic. This result is consistent with previous measurements and predictions from global electroweak fits.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2025

Measurements of charmed meson and antimeson production asymmetries at $\sqrt{s} =13.6$ TeV

This article presents doubly differential measurements of the asymmetries in production rates between mesons containing a charm quark and those containing an anticharm quark in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=13.6$ TeV using data recorded by the LHCb experiment. The asymmetries of $D^0$, $D^+$ and $D_s^+$ mesons are measured for two-dimensional intervals in transverse momentum and pseudorapidity, within the range $2.5<p_T<25.0$ GeV$/c$ and $2.0<η<4.5$. No significant production asymmetries are observed. Comparisons to the Pythia 8 and Herwig 7 event generators are also presented, and their agreement with the data is evaluated. These measurements constitute the first measurements of production asymmetries at this centre-of-mass energy of colliding beams, and the first measurements with the LHCb Run 3 detector.

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arXiv2025

Observation of exotic $J/ψϕ$ resonant structure in diffractive processes in proton-proton collisions

The first study of $J/ψϕ$ production in diffractive processes in proton-proton collisions is presented. The study is based on an LHCb dataset recorded at centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5 fb$^{-1}$. The data disfavour a nonresonant $J/ψϕ$ production but are consistent with a resonant model including several resonant states observed previously only in $B^+ \to J/ψϕK^+$ decays. The $χ_{c0}(4500)$ state is observed with a significance over $6σ$ and the $χ_{c1}(4274)$ is confirmed with a significance of more than $4σ$.

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arXiv2025

Three-pion Bose-Einstein correlations measured in proton-proton collisions

A study on the Bose-Einstein correlations for triplets of same-sign pions is presented. The analysis is performed using proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}$ = 7 TeV, recorded by the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fb$^{-1}$. For the first time, the results are interpreted in the core-halo model. The parameters of the model are determined in regions of charged-particle multiplicity. This measurement provides insight into the nature of hadronisation in terms of coherence, showing a coherent emission of pions.

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arXiv2025

Observation of charge-parity symmetry breaking in baryon decays

The Standard Model of particle physics-the theory of particles and interactions at the smallest scale-predicts that matter and antimatter interact differently due to violation of the combined symmetry of charge conjugation ($C$) and parity ($P$). Charge conjugation transforms particles into their antimatter particles, whereas the parity transformation inverts spatial coordinates. This prediction applies to both mesons, which consist of a quark and an antiquark, and baryons, which are composed of three quarks. However, despite having been discovered in various meson decays, $CP$ violation has yet to be observed in baryons, the type of matter that makes up the observable Universe. Here we report a study of the decay of the beauty baryon $Λ^{0}_{b}$ to the $p K^{-} π^{+}π^{-}$ final state and its $CP$-conjugated process, using data collected by the Large Hadron Collider beauty experiment at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). The results reveal significant asymmetries between the decay rates of the $Λ^{0}_{b}$ baryon and its $CP$-conjugated antibaryon, providing, to our knowledge, the first observation of $CP$ violation in baryon decays and demonstrating the different behaviours of baryons and antibaryons. In the Standard Model, $CP$ violation arises from the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa mechanism, and new forces or particles beyond the Standard Model could provide additional contributions. This discovery opens a new path in the search for physics beyond the Standard Model.

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arXiv2025

First observation of the $Λ^0_b \to D^+ D^- Λ$ decay

The $Λ^0_b \to D^+ D^- Λ$ decay is observed for the first time using proton-proton collision data collected by the LHCb experiment at a center-of-mass energy of $13 \mathrm{TeV}$, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $5.3 \mathrm{fb}^{-1}$. Using the $B^0 \to D^+ D^- K_{\mathrm{S}}^0$ decay as a reference channel, the product of the relative production cross-section and decay branching fractions is measured to be $$ {\cal R}=\frac{σ_{Λ^0_b}}{σ_{B^0}} \times \frac{{\cal B}(Λ^0_b \to D^+ D^- Λ)}{{\cal B}(B^0 \to D^+ D^- K_{\mathrm{S}}^0)}=0.179 \pm 0.022 \pm 0.014 $$ where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic. The known branching fraction of the reference channel, ${\cal B}(B^0 \to D^+ D^- K_{\mathrm{S}}^0)$, and the cross-section ratio, $σ_{Λ^0_b} / σ_{B^0}$, previously measured by $\mathrm{LHCb}$ are used to derive the branching fraction of the $Λ^0_b \to D^+ D^- Λ$ decay $$ {\cal B}(Λ^0_b \to D^+ D^- Λ)=(1.24 \pm 0.15 \pm 0.10 \pm 0.28 \pm 0.11) \times 10^{-4}, $$ where the third and fourth contributions are due to uncertainties of ${\cal B}(B^0 \to D^+ D^- K_{\mathrm{S}}^0)$ and $σ_{Λ^0_b} / σ_{B^0}$, respectively. Inspection of the $D^+ Λ$ and $D^+ D^-$ invariant-mass distributions suggests a rich presence of intermediate resonances in the decay. The $Λ^0_b \to D^{*+} D^- Λ$ decay is also observed for the first time as a partially reconstructed component in the $D^+ D^- Λ$ invariant mass spectrum.

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arXiv2025

Observation of the very rare $Σ^+ \to p μ^+ μ^-$ decay

The first observation of the $Σ^+ \to p μ^+ μ^-$ decay is reported with high significance using proton-proton collision data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $5.4\,\rm{fb}^{-1}$, collected with the LHCb detector at a centre-of-mass energy of 13~TeV. A yield of $237\pm 16$ $Σ^+ \to p μ^+ μ^-$ decays is obtained, where the uncertainty is statistical only. A branching fraction of $(1.08 \pm 0.17) \times 10^{-8}$ is measured, where the uncertainty includes statistical and systematic sources. No evidence of resonant structures is found in the dimuon invariant-mass distribution. All results are compatible with Standard Model expectations. This represents the rarest decay of a baryon ever observed.

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arXiv2025

Measurement of the branching fraction ratio $R_K$ at large dilepton invariant mass

A test of lepton universality between muons and electrons is performed using $B^+\to K^+\ell^+\ell^-$ decays (where $\ell$ = $e$, $μ$), in the dilepton invariant-mass-squared region above 14.3 GeV$^2/c^4$. The data used for the measurement consists of beauty meson decays produced in proton-proton collisions, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9 $\text{fb}^{-1}$, collected by the LHCb experiment between 2011 and 2018. The ratio of branching fractions for $B^+\to K^+μ^+μ^-$ and $B^+\to K^+e^+e^-$ decays is measured to be $R_K = 1.08^{+0.11}_{-0.09}\;(\text{stat})\;^{+0.04}_{-0.04}\;(\text{syst})$, which is consistent with the Standard Model prediction of unity. This constitutes the most precise test of lepton flavour universality using $B^+\to K^+\ell^+\ell^-$ decays with dilepton invariant-mass-squared above the $ψ(2S)$ mass, whilst being the first of its kind at a hadron collider.

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arXiv2025

Angular analysis of the decay $B_{s}^{0}\toϕe^+e^-$

An angular analysis of the decay $B^0_s\toϕe^+e^-$ is presented, using proton-proton collision data collected with the LHCb detector between 2011 and 2018 at centre-of-mass energies of 7, 8 and 13$\,\mathrm{Te\kern -0.1em V}$. The combined dataset corresponds to an integrated luminosity of $9\,\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$. Observables are determined by fitting time-integrated projections of the angular distribution in three bins of dielectron mass squared, $q^2$, corresponding to $[0.1,1.1]$, $[1.1,6.0]$ and $[15.0,19.0]\,\mathrm{Ge\kern -0.1em V}^2\!/c^4$. The results are compatible with predictions based on the Standard Model of particle physics.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2025

Observation of the decay $B^0_{s}\to K^0 p \bar{p}$ and measurement of the $B^0_{(s)} \to K^0 p \bar{p}$ branching fractions

A study of the charmless baryonic decays $B^0_{(s)} \to K^0 p \bar{p}$ is presented, where $B^0_{(s)}$ denotes either a $B^0$ or a $B^0_s$ meson. The analysis is based on proton-proton collision data collected by the LHCb experiment at centre-of-mass energies of 7, 8, and $13~\mathrm{Tev}$, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $9~\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$. The decay $B^0_s \to K^0 p \bar{p}$ is observed for the first time, with a measured branching fraction of $(9.14 \pm 1.69 \pm 0.90 \pm 0.33 \pm 0.20) \times 10^{-7}$ and a significance of $5.6σ$. The uncertainties respectively account for statistical and systematic contributions, the precision of the branching fraction of the normalisation channel $B^0 \to K^0 π^{+} π^{-}$ and the fragmentation fraction ratio ${f_s}/{f_d}$. The branching fraction determined for $B^0 \to K^0 p \bar{p}$ is $(2.82 \pm 0.08 \pm 0.12 \pm 0.10) \times 10^{-6}$, which is the most precise measurement to date.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2025

Comprehensive analysis of local and nonlocal amplitudes in the $B^0\rightarrow K^{*0}μ^+μ^-$ decay

A comprehensive study of the local and nonlocal amplitudes contributing to the decay $B^0\rightarrow K^{*0}(\to K^+π^-) μ^+μ^-$ is performed by analysing the phase-space distribution of the decay products. The analysis is based on $pp$ collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 8.4fb$^{-1}$ collected by the LHCb experiment. This measurement employs for the first time a model of both one-particle and two-particle nonlocal amplitudes, and utilises the complete dimuon mass spectrum without any veto regions around the narrow charmonium resonances. In this way it is possible to explicitly isolate the local and nonlocal contributions and capture the interference between them. The results show that interference with nonlocal contributions, although larger than predicted, only has a minor impact on the Wilson Coefficients determined from the fit to the data. For the local contributions, the Wilson Coefficient $C_9$, responsible for vector dimuon currents, exhibits a $2.1σ$ deviation from the Standard Model expectation. The Wilson Coefficients $C_{10}$, $C_{9}'$ and $C_{10}'$ are all in better agreement than $C_{9}$ with the Standard Model and the global significance is at the level of $1.5σ$. The model used also accounts for nonlocal contributions from $B^{0}\to K^{*0}\left[τ^+τ^-\to μ^+μ^-\right]$ rescattering, resulting in the first direct measurement of the $b sττ$ vector effective-coupling $C_{9τ}$.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2025

Measurement of exclusive $J/ψ$ and $ψ(2S)$ production at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV

Measurements are presented of the cross-section for the central exclusive production of $J/ψ\toμ^+μ^-$ and $ψ(2S)\toμ^+μ^-$ processes in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13 $ TeV with 2016-2018 data. They are performed by requiring both muons to be in the LHCb acceptance (with pseudorapidity $2<η_{μ^\pm} < 4.5$) and mesons in the rapidity range $2.0 < y < 4.5$. The integrated cross-section results are \begin{equation*} σ_{J/ψ\toμ^+μ^-}(2.0<y_{J/ψ}<4.5,2.0<η_{μ^\pm} < 4.5) = 400 \pm 2 \pm 5 \pm 12 \,{\rm pb}\,, \end{equation*} \begin{equation*} σ_{ψ(2S)\toμ^+μ^-}(2.0<y_{ψ(2S)}<4.5,2.0<η_{μ^\pm} < 4.5) = 9.40 \pm 0.15 \pm 0.13 \pm 0.27 \,{\rm pb}\,, \end{equation*} where the uncertainties are statistical, systematic and due to the luminosity determination. In addition, a measurement of the ratio of $ψ(2S)$ and $J/ψ$ cross-sections, at an average photon-proton centre-of-mass energy of 1 TeV, is performed, giving \begin{equation*} \frac{σ_{ψ(2S)}}{σ_{J/ψ}} = 0.1763 \pm 0.0029 \pm 0.0008 \pm 0.0039 \,, \end{equation*} where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second systematic and the third due to the knowledge of the involved branching fractions. For the first time, the dependence of the $J/ψ$ and $ψ(2S)$ cross-sections on the total transverse momentum transfer is determined in $pp$ collisions and is found consistent with the behaviour observed in electron-proton collisions.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2025

Measurement of the branching fraction ratios $R(D^{+})$ and $R(D^{*+})$ using muonic $τ$ decays

The branching fraction ratios of $\overline{B}^0\to D^+τ^-\overlineν_τ$ and $\overline{B}^0\to D^{*+}τ^-\overlineν_τ$ decays are measured with respect to their muonic counterparts, using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.0 fb$^{-1}$ collected by the LHCb experiment in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV. The reconstructed final states are formed by combining $D^+$ mesons with $τ^-\toμ^-\overlineν_μν_τ$ candidates, where the $D^+$ is reconstructed via the $D^+\to K^-π^+π^+$ decay. The results are \begin{align*} R(D^{+}) &= 0.249 \pm 0.043 \pm 0.047, R(D^{*+}) &= 0.402 \pm 0.081\pm 0.085, \end{align*} where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second systematic. The two measurements have a correlation coefficient of $-0.39$ and are compatible with the Standard Model.

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