Search for $B_{(s)}^{*0}\toμ^+μ^-$ in $B_c^+\toπ^+μ^+μ^-$ decays
A search for the very rare $B^{*0}\toμ^+μ^-$ and $B_{s}^{*0}\toμ^+μ^-$ decays is conducted by analysing the $B_c^+\to π^+μ^+μ^-$ process. The analysis uses proton-proton collision data collected with the LHCb detector between 2011 and 2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9$\text{\,fb}^{-1}$. The signal signatures correspond to simultaneous peaks in the $μ^+μ^-$ and $π^+μ^+μ^-$ invariant masses. No evidence for an excess of events over background is observed for either signal decay mode. Upper limits at the $90\%$ confidence level are set on the branching fractions relative to that for $B_c^+\to J\mskip -3mu/\mskip -2muψπ^+$ decays, \begin{equation*} {\cal R}_{B^{*0}(μ^+μ^-)π^+/J\mskip -3mu/\mskip -2muψπ^+} < 3.8\times 10^{-5}\ \text{ and }\: {\cal R}_{B_{s}^{*0}(μ^+μ^-)π^+/J\mskip -3mu/\mskip -2muψπ^+} < 5.0\times 10^{-5}\,. \end{equation*}