arXiv subjects

P. Branchini

Publications and source records attributed to P. Branchini.

At least 199 records · Page 11Linked to original sources

arXiv2022

Commissioning of the PADME experiment with a positron beam

The PADME experiment is designed to search for a hypothetical dark photon $A^{\prime}$ produced in positron-electron annihilation using a bunched positron beam at the Beam Test Facility of the INFN Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati. The expected sensitivity to the $A^{\prime}$-photon mixing parameter $ε$ is 10$^{-3}$, for $A^{\prime}$ mass $\le$ 23.5 MeV/$c^{2}$ after collecting $\sim 10^{13}$ positrons-on-target. This paper presents the PADME detector status after commissioning in July 2019. In addition, the software algorithms employed to reconstruct physics objects, such as photons and charged particles, and the calibration procedures adopted are illustrated in detail. The results show that the experimental apparatus reaches the design performance, and is able to identify and measure standard electromagnetic processes, such as positron Bremsstrahlung, electron-positron annihilation into two photons.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2022

Angular analysis of $B^+ \to ρ^+ρ^0$ decays reconstructed in 2019, 2020, and 2021 Belle II data

We report on a Belle II measurement of the branching fraction ($\mathcal{B}$), longitudinal polarization fraction ($f_L$), and CP asymmetry ($\mathcal{A}_{CP}$) of $B^+\to ρ^+ρ^0$ decays. We reconstruct $B^+\to ρ^+(\to π^+π^0(\to γγ))ρ^0(\to π^+π^-)$ decays in a sample of SuperKEKB electron-positron collisions collected by the Belle II experiment in 2019, 2020, and 2021 at the $Υ$(4S) resonance and corresponding to 190 fb$^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity. We fit the distributions of the difference between expected and observed $B$ candidate energy, continuum-suppression discriminant, dipion masses, and decay angles of the selected samples, to determine a signal yield of $345 \pm 31$ events. The signal yields are corrected for efficiencies determined from simulation and control data samples to obtain $\mathcal{B}(B^+ \to ρ^+ρ^0) = [23.2^{+\ 2.2}_{-\ 2.1} (\rm stat) \pm 2.7 (\rm syst)]\times 10^{-6}$, $f_L = 0.943 ^{+\ 0.035}_{-\ 0.033} (\rm stat)\pm 0.027(\rm syst)$, and $\mathcal{A}_{CP}=-0.069 \pm 0.068(\rm stat) \pm 0.060 (\rm syst)$. The results agree with previous measurements. This is the first measurement of $\mathcal{A}_{CP}$ in $B^+\to ρ^+ρ^0$ decays reported by Belle II.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2022

Measurement of the branching fraction of the $B^0 \to K_S^0 π^0 γ$ decay using 190 fb$^{-1}$ of Belle II data

We report the measurement of the branching fraction of the $B^0 \to K_S^0 π^0 γ$ decay in $e^+ e^- \to Υ(4S) \to B \overline{B}$ data recorded by the Belle II experiment at the SuperKEKB asymmetric-energy collider and corresponding to 190 fb$^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity. The signal yield is measured to be $121\pm 29\,\hbox{(stat.)}$, leading to the branching fraction ${\cal B}\left(B^0 \to K_S^0 π^0 γ\right) = \left(7.3 \pm 1.8\,\hbox{(stat.)} \pm 1.0\,\hbox{(syst.)} \right)\times 10^{-6}$, which agrees with the known value.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2022

First decay-time-dependent analysis of $B^{0} \to K_{S}^{0} π^{0}$ at Belle II

We report measurements of the branching fraction ($\mathcal{B}$) and direct $CP$-violating asymmetry ($A_{CP}$) of the charmless decay $B^{0} \to K^0 π^0$ at Belle II. A sample of $e^{+} e^{-}$ collisions, corresponding to $189.8 fb^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity, recorded at the $Υ(4S)$ resonance is used for the first decay-time-dependent analysis of these decays within the experiment. We reconstruct about 135 signal candidates, and measure $\mathcal{B}(B^{0} \to K^{0} π^{0})= [11.0 \pm 1.2 (stat) \pm 1.0 (syst)] \times 10^{-6}$ and $A_{CP} (B^{0} \to K^{0} π^{0})= -0.41_{-0.32}^{+0.30} (stat) \pm 0.09 (syst)$.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2022

First test of Lepton Flavor Universality in the charmed baryon decays $Ω^{0}_{c} \to Ω^{-} \ell^{+} ν_{\ell}$ using data of the Belle experiment

We present the first observation of the $Ω_{c}^{0} \to Ω^{-} μ^{+} ν_μ$ decay and present measurements of the branching fraction ratios of the $Ω_{c}^{0} \to Ω^{-} \ell^{+} ν_{\ell}$ decays compared to the reference mode $Ω_{c}^{0} \to Ω^{-} π^+$, ($\ell = e$ or $μ$). This analysis is based on 89.5 fb$^{-1}$, 711 fb$^{-1}$, and 121.1 fb$^{-1}$ data samples collected with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy $e^+e^-$ collider at the center-of-mass energies of 10.52 GeV, 10.58 GeV, and 10.86 GeV, respectively. The $Ω_{c}^{0}$ signal yields are extracted by fitting $M_{Ω^{-} \ell^{+}}$ and $M_{Ω^{-}π^+}$ spectra. The branching fraction ratios ${\cal B}(Ω_{c}^{0} \to Ω^{-} e^{+} ν_{e})/{\cal B}(Ω_{c}^{0} \to Ω^{-} π^+)$ and ${\cal B}(Ω_{c}^{0} \to Ω^{-} μ^{+} ν_μ)/{\cal B}(Ω_{c}^{0} \to Ω^{-} π^+)$ are measured to be $1.98 \pm0.13~({\rm stat.}) \pm 0.08~({\rm syst.})$ and $ 1.94 \pm 0.18~({\rm stat.}) \pm 0.10~({\rm syst.})$, respectively. The ratio of ${\cal B}(Ω_{c}^{0} \to Ω^{-} e^{+} ν_{e})/{\cal B}(Ω_{c}^{0} \to Ω^{-} μ^{+} ν_μ)$ is measured to be $1.02 \pm 0.10~({\rm stat.}) \pm 0.02~({\rm syst.})$, which is consistent with the expectation of lepton flavor universality.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2022

Search for charged lepton flavor violating decays of $Υ(1S)$

We present a search for the charged lepton-flavor-violating decays $Υ(1S)\rightarrow\ell\ell^\prime$ and radiative charged lepton-flavour-violating decays $Υ(1S)\rightarrowγ\ell\ell^\prime$ [$\ell,\ell^\prime = e, μ, τ$] using the 158 million $Υ(2S)$ sample collected by the Belle detector at the KEKB collider. This search uses $Υ(1S)$ mesons produced in $π^+π^-Υ(1S)$ transitions. We do not find any significant signal, so we provide upper limits on the branching fractions at the 90% confidence level.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2022

The PADME beam line Monte Carlo simulation

The PADME experiment at the DA$Φ$NE Beam-Test Facility (BTF) of the INFN Laboratory of Frascati is designed to search for invisible decays of dark sector particles produced in electron-positron annihilation events with a positron beam and a thin fixed target, by measuring the missing mass of single-photon final states. The presence of backgrounds originating from beam halo particles can significantly reduce the sensitivity of the experiment. To thoroughly understand the origin of the beam background contribution, a detailed Geant4-based Monte Carlo simulation has been developed, containing a full description of the detector together with the beam line and its optical elements. This simulation allows the full interactions of each particle to be described, both during beam line transport and during detection, a possibility which represents an innovative way to obtain reliable background predictions

hep-ex↗

arXiv2022

Precision tests of Quantum Mechanics and CPT symmetry with entangled neutral kaons at KLOE

The quantum interference between the decays of entangled neutral kaons is studied in the process $ϕ\rightarrow K_S K_L \rightarrowπ^+π^-π^+π^-$, which exhibits the characteristic Einstein--Podolsky--Rosen correlations that prevent both kaons to decay into $π^+π^-$ at the same time. This constitutes a very powerful tool for testing at the utmost precision the quantum coherence of the entangled kaon pair state, and to search for tiny decoherence and CPT violation effects, which may be justified in a quantum gravity framework. The analysed data sample was collected with the KLOE detector at DA$Φ$NE, the Frascati $ϕ$-factory, and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of about 1.7 fb$^{-1}$, i.e. to about $1.7 \times 10^9$ $ϕ\rightarrow K_S K_L$ decays produced. From the fit of the observed $Δt$ distribution, being $Δt$ the difference of the kaon decay times, the decoherence and CPT violation parameters of various phenomenological models are measured with a largely improved accuracy with respect to previous analyses. The results are consistent with no deviation from quantum mechanics and CPT symmetry, while for some parameters the precision reaches the interesting level at which -- in the most optimistic scenarios -- quantum gravity effects might show up. They provide the most stringent limits up to date on the considered models.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2022

$B$-flavor tagging at Belle II

We report on new flavor tagging algorithms developed to determine the quark-flavor content of bottom ($B$) mesons at Belle II. The algorithms provide essential inputs for measurements of quark-flavor mixing and charge-parity violation. We validate and evaluate the performance of the algorithms using hadronic $B$ decays with flavor-specific final states reconstructed in a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $62.8$ fb$^{-1}$, collected at the $Υ$(4$S$) resonance with the Belle II detector at the SuperKEKB collider. We measure the total effective tagging efficiency to be $\varepsilon_{\rm eff} = \big(30.0 \pm 1.2(\text{stat}) \pm 0.4(\text{syst})\big)\%$ for a category-based algorithm and $\varepsilon_{\rm eff} = \big(28.8 \pm 1.2(\text{stat}) \pm 0.4(\text{syst})\big)\%$ for a deep-learning-based algorithm.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2022

Search for $B^{0} \to K_S^{0}K_S^{0}γ$ decays at Belle

We report the first search for the penguin-dominated process $B^0 \rightarrow K_S^0 K_S^0 γ$ using the full data sample of $772\times 10^6$ $B\bar{B}$ pairs collected with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy $e^+ e^-$ collider. We do not observe any statistically significant signal yield in the $K_S^0$-pair invariant mass range 1 GeV/$c^2 < M_{K_S^0 K_S^0} < $ 3 GeV/$c^2$, and set the following upper limits at 90% confidence level: $\mathcal{B}(B^0 \to K_S^0 K_S^0 γ) < 5.8\times10^{-7}$, $\mathcal{B}(B^0 \to f_2 γ)\times \mathcal{B}(f_2 (1270) \to K_S^0 K_S^0 ) < 3.1\times10^{-7}$, and $\mathcal{B}(B^0 \to f_2^{\prime} γ)\times \mathcal{B}(f_2^{\prime} (1525) \to K_S^0 K_S^0 ) < 2.1\times10^{-7}$. Further, 90% confidence upper limits have also been set in the range of [0.7-2.9]$\times10^{-7}$ on the $B^0 \rightarrow K_S^0 K_S^0 γ$ branching fraction in bins of $M_{K_S^0 K_S^0}$.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2022

First Measurement of the $Λ_c^+ \to p η'$ decay

We present the first measurement of the branching fraction of the singly Cabibbo-suppressed (SCS) decay $Λ_c^+ \to p η'$ with $η' \to ηπ^+π^-$, using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 981 $\rm fb^{-1}$, collected by the Belle detector at the KEKB $e^{+}$$e^{-}$ asymmetric-energy collider. A significant $Λ_c^+$ signal is observed for the first time with a signal significance of 5.4$σ$. The relative branching fraction with respect to the normalization mode $Λ_c^+ \to pK^-π^+$ is measured to be \begin{equation*} \frac{{\cal B}(Λ_c^+ \to p η')}{{\cal B}(Λ_c^+ \to p K^-π^+)} = (7.54 \pm 1.32 \pm 0.75) \times 10^{-3}, \end{equation*} where the uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively. Using the world-average value of ${\cal B}(Λ_c^+ \to p K^-π^+) = (6.28\pm0.32)\times10^{-2}$, we obtain \begin{equation*} {\cal B}(Λ_c^+ \to p η') = (4.73 \pm 0.82 \pm 0.47 \pm 0.24)\times 10^{-4}, \end{equation*} where the uncertainties are statistical, systematic, and from ${\cal B}(Λ_c^+ \to pK^-π^+)$, respectively.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2022

Search for a light Higgs boson in single-photon decays of $Υ(1S)$ using $Υ(2S) \to π^+ π^- Υ(1S)$ tagging method

We search for a light Higgs boson ($A^0$) decaying into a $τ^+τ^-$ or $μ^+μ^-$ pair in the radiative decays of $Υ(1S)$. The production of $Υ(1S)$ mesons is tagged by $Υ(2S)\to π^+ π^- Υ(1S)$ transitions, using 158 million $Υ(2S)$ events accumulated with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric energy electron-positron collider. No significant $A^0$ signals in the mass range from the $τ^+τ^-$ or $μ^+μ^-$ threshold to 9.2 GeV/$c^2$ are observed. We set the upper limits at 90\% credibility level (C.L.) on the product branching fractions for $Υ(1S)\to γA^0$ and $A^0\to τ^+τ^-$ varying from $3.8\times10^{-6}$ to $1.5\times10^{-4}$. Our results represent an approximately twofold improvement on the current world best upper limits for the $Υ(1S)\to γA^0(\to τ^+τ^-)$ production. For $A^0\to μ^+μ^-$, the upper limits on the product branching fractions for $Υ(1S)\to γA^0$ and $A^0\to μ^+μ^-$ are at the same level as the world average limits, and vary from $3.1\times10^{-7}$ to $1.6\times10^{-5}$. The upper limits at 90\% C.L. on the Yukawa coupling $f_{Υ(1S)}$ and mixing angle ${\rm sin}θ_{A^0}$ are also given.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2022

Study of $\overline{B}{}^0\rightarrow D^{+}h^{-} (h=K/π)$ decays at Belle

We present a measurement of the branching fractions of the Cabibbo favored $\overline{B}{}^0\rightarrow D^{+}π^{-}$ and the Cabibbo suppressed $\overline{B}{}^0\rightarrow D^{+}K^{-}$ decays. We find $\mathcal{B}(\overline{B}{}^0\rightarrow D^{+}π^{-}) = (2.48 \pm 0.01 \pm 0.09 \pm 0.04) \times 10^{-3}$ and $\mathcal{B}(\overline{B}{}^0\rightarrow D^{+}K^{-})= (2.03 \pm 0.05 \pm 0.07 \pm 0.03) \times 10^{-4}$ decays, where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second is systematic, and the third uncertainty is due to the $D^{+} \rightarrow K^{-}π^{+}π^{+}$ branching fraction. The ratio of branching fractions of $\overline{B}{}^0\rightarrow D^{+}K^{-}$ and $\overline{B}{}^0\rightarrow D^{+}π^{-}$ is measured to be $R^{D} = [8.19 \pm 0.20(\rm stat) \pm 0.23(\rm syst)] \times 10^{-2} $. These measurements are performed using the full Belle data set, which corresponds to $772 \times 10^{6} B\overline{B} $ pairs.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2022

Search for the decay $B_s^0 \to η^\prime K_S^0$

We report the results of the first search for the decay $B_s^0 \to η^\prime K_S^0$ using $121.4\,{\rm fb}^{-1}$ of data collected at the $Υ(5S)$ resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy $e^+ e^-$ collider. We observe no signal and set a 90\% confidence-level upper limit of $8.16 \times 10^{-6}$ on the $B_s^0 \to η^\prime K_S^0$ branching fraction.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2022

Measurement of Two-Particle Correlations of Hadrons in $e^{+}e^{-}$ Collisions at Belle

The measurement of two-particle angular correlation functions in high-multiplicity $e^+e^-$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=10.52$ GeV is reported. In this study, the $89.5~{\text{fb}}^{-1}$ of hadronic $e^+e^-$ annihilation data collected by the Belle detector at KEKB are used. Two-particle angular correlation functions are measured in the full relative azimuthal angle ($Δϕ$) and three units of pseudorapidity ($Δη$), defined by either the electron beam axis or the event-shape thrust axis, and are studied as a function of charged-particle multiplicity. The measurement in the thrust axis analysis, with mostly outgoing quark pairs determining the reference axis, is sensitive to the region of additional soft gluon emissions. No significant anisotropic collective behavior is observed with either coordinate analyses. Near-side jet correlations appear to be absent in the thrust axis analysis. The measurements are compared to predictions from various event generators and are expected to provide new constraints to the phenomenological models in the low-energy regime.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2021

Combined analysis of Belle and Belle II data to determine the CKM angle $ ϕ_{3} $ using $B^+ \to D(K_{S}^0 h^- h^+) h^+$ decays

We present a measurement of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa unitarity triangle angle $ ϕ_{3} $ (also known as~$γ$) using a model-independent Dalitz plot analysis of \linebreak $B^+\to D\left(K_{S}^{0}h^{+}h^{-}\right)h^+$, where $D$ is either a $D^0$ or $\bar{D}{}^0$ meson and $h$ is either a $π$ or $K$. This is the first measurement that simultaneously uses Belle and Belle~II data, combining samples corresponding to integrated luminosities of \SI{711}{fb^{-1}} and \SI{128}{fb^{-1}}, respectively. All data were accumulated from energy-asymmetric $e^+e^-$ collisions at a centre-of-mass energy corresponding to the mass of the $Υ(4S)$ resonance. We measure $ϕ_3 = \left(78.4 \pm 11.4 \pm 0.5 \pm 1.0 \right)^{\circ}$, where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second is the experimental systematic uncertainty and the third is from the uncertainties on external measurements of the $D$-decay strong-phase parameters.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2021

Measurements of the branching fractions of $Ξ_c^0 \to ΛK_S^0$, $Ξ_c^0 \to Σ^0 K_S^0$, and $Ξ_c^0 \to Σ^+ K^-$ decays at Belle

Using the entire data sample of $980\mathrm{~fb}^{-1}$ collected with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy $e^+e^-$ collider, we present measurements of the branching fractions of the Cabibbo-favored decays $Ξ_c^0 \to ΛK_S^0$, $Ξ_c^0 \to Σ^0 K_S^0$, and $Ξ_c^0 \to Σ^+ K^-$. Taking the decay $Ξ_c^0 \to Ξ^- \pip$ as the normalization mode, we measure the branching fraction ratio ${\cal B}(Ξ_c^0 \to ΛK_S^0)/{\cal B}(Ξ_c^0 \to Ξ^- π^+) = 0.229\pm0.008\pm0.012$ with improved precision, and measure the branching fraction ratios ${\cal B}(Ξ_c^0 \to Σ^0 K_S^0)/{\cal B}(Ξ_c^0 \to Ξ^- π^+) = 0.038\pm0.006\pm0.004$ and ${\cal B}(Ξ_c^0 \to Σ^+ K^-)/{\cal B}(Ξ_c^0 \to Ξ^- π^+) = 0.123\pm0.007\pm0.010$ for the first time. Taking into account the branching fraction of the normalization mode, the absolute branching fractions are determined to be ${\cal B}(Ξ_c^0 \to ΛK_S^0) = (3.27\pm0.11\pm0.17\pm0.73) \times 10^{-3}$, ${\cal B}(Ξ_c^0 \to Σ^0 K_S^0) = (0.54\pm 0.09\pm 0.06\pm 0.12) \times 10^{-3}$, and ${\cal B}(Ξ_c^0 \to Σ^+ K^-) = (1.76\pm 0.10\pm0.14\pm 0.39) \times 10^{-3}$. The first and second uncertainties above are statistical and systematic, respectively, while the third ones arise from the uncertainty of the branching fraction of $Ξ_c^0 \to Ξ^- π^+$.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2021

Measurements of $q^2$ Moments of Inclusive $B \rightarrow X_c \ell^+ ν_{\ell}$ Decays with Hadronic Tagging

We present the measurement of the first to fourth order moments of the four-momentum transfer squared, $q^2$, of inclusive $B \rightarrow X_c \ell^+ ν_{\ell}$ decays using the full Belle data set of 711 $\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity at the $Υ(4S)$ resonance where $\ell = e, μ$. The determination of these moments and their systematic uncertainties open new pathways to determine the absolute value of the CKM matrix element $V_{cb}$ using a reduced set of matrix elements of the heavy quark expansion. In order to identify and reconstruct the $X_c$ system, we reconstruct one of the two $B$-mesons using machine learning techniques in fully hadronic decay modes. The moments are measured with progressively increasing threshold selections on $q^2$ starting with a lower value of 3.0 $\mathrm{GeV}^2$ in steps of 0.5 $\mathrm{GeV}^2$ up to a value of 10.0 $\mathrm{GeV}^2$. The measured moments are further unfolded, correcting for reconstruction and selection effects as well as QED final state radiation. We report the moments separately for electron and muon final states and observe no lepton flavor universality violating effects.

hep-ex↗