First measurements of absolute branching fractions of the $Ξ_c^+$ baryon at Belle
We present the first measurements of the absolute branching fractions of $Ξ_c^+$ decays into $Ξ^- π^+ π^+$ and $p K^- π^+$ final states. Our analysis is based on a data set of $(772\pm 11)\times 10^{6}$ $B\bar{B}$ pairs collected at the $Υ(4S)$ resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB $e^+e^-$ collider. We measure the absolute branching fraction of $\bar{B}^{0} \to \barΛ_{c}^{-} Ξ_{c}^{+}$ with the $Ξ_c^+$ recoiling against $\barΛ_c^-$ in $\bar{B}^0$ decays resulting in ${\cal B}(\bar{B}^{0} \to \barΛ_{c}^{-} Ξ_{c}^{+}) = [1.16 \pm 0.42(\rm stat.) \pm 0.15(\rm syst.)] \times 10^{-3}$. We then measure the product branching fractions ${\cal B}(\bar{B}^{0} \to \barΛ_c^- Ξ_c^+){\cal B}(Ξ_c^+ \to Ξ^- π^+ π^+)$ and ${\cal B}(\bar{B}^{0} \to \barΛ_c^- Ξ_c^+){\cal B}(Ξ_c^+ \to p K^- π^+)$. Dividing these product branching fractions by $\bar{B}^{0} \to \barΛ_{c}^{-} Ξ_{c}^{+}$ yields: ${\cal B}(Ξ_c^+ \to Ξ^- π^+ π^+) = [2.86 \pm 1.21(\rm stat.) \pm 0.38(\rm syst.)]\%$ and ${\cal B}(Ξ_c^+ \to p K^- π^+)=[0.45 \pm 0.21(\rm stat.) \pm 0.07(\rm syst.)]\%$. Our result for ${\cal B}(Ξ_c^+ \to Ξ^- π^+ π^+)$ can be combined with $Ξ_c^+$ branching fractions measured relative to $Ξ_c^+ \to Ξ^- π^+ π^+$ to set the absolute scale for many $Ξ_c^+$ branching fractions.