Observation of Two New Excited Ξb0 States Decaying to Λb0 K-π+

Two narrow resonant states are observed in the Λb0K-π+ mass spectrum using a data sample of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, collected by the LHCb experiment and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 6 fb-1. The minimal quark content of the Λb0K-π+ system indicates that these are excited Ξb0 baryons. The masses of the Ξb(6327)0 and Ξb(6333)0 states are m[Ξb(6327)0]=6327.28-0.21+0.23±0.12±0.24 and m[Ξb(6333)0]=6332.69-0.18+0.17±0.03±0.22 MeV, respectively, with a mass splitting of Δm=5.41-0.27+0.26±0.12 MeV, where the uncertainties are statistical, systematic, and due to the Λb0 mass measurement. The measured natural widths of these states are consistent with zero, with upper limits of Γ[Ξb(6327)0]<2.20(2.56) and Γ[Ξb(6333)0]<1.60(1.92) MeV at a 90% (95%) credibility level. The significance of the two-peak hypothesis is larger than nine (five) Gaussian standard deviations compared to the no-peak (one-peak) hypothesis. The masses, widths, and resonant structure of the new states are in good agreement with the expectations for a doublet of 1D Ξb0 resonances

Search for dark photons produced in 13 TeV pppp collisions

Searches are performed for both promptlike and long-lived dark photons, A 0 , produced in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, using A 0 → μ þ μ − decays and a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1 . 6 fb − 1 collected with the LHCb detector. The promptlike A 0 search covers the mass range from near the dimuon threshold up to 70 GeV, while the long-lived A 0 search is restricted to the low-mass region 214 <m ð A 0 Þ < 350 MeV. No evidence for a signal is found, and 90% confidence level exclusion limits are placed on the γ – A 0 kinetic-mixing strength. The constraints placed on promptlike dark photons are the most stringent to date for the mass range 10 . 6 <m ð A 0 Þ < 70 GeV, and are comparable to the best existing limits for m ð A 0 Þ < 0 . 5 GeV. The search for long-lived dark photons is the first to achieve sensitivity using a displaced-vertex signature

Measurement of antiproton production from antihyperon decays in p He collisions at √sNN = 110 GeV

The interpretation of cosmic antiproton flux measurements from space-borne experiments is currently limited by the knowledge of the antiproton production cross-section in collisions between primary cosmic rays and the interstellar medium. Using collisions of protons with an energy of 6.5TeV incident on helium nuclei at rest in the proximity of the interaction region of the LHCb experiment, the ratio of antiprotons originating from antihyperon decays to prompt production is measured for antiproton momenta between 12 and 110GeV. The dominant antihyperon contribution, namely Λ¯→p¯π+ decays from promptly produced Λ¯ particles, is also exclusively measured. The results complement the measurement of prompt antiproton production obtained from the same data sample. At the energy scale of this measurement, the antihyperon contributions to antiproton production are observed to be significantly larger than predictions of commonly used hadronic production models

Direct CP violation in charmless three-body decays of B± mesons

Measurements of C P asymmetries in charmless three-body decays of B ± mesons are reported using proton-proton collision data collected by the LHCb detector, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.9     fb − 1 . The previously observed C P asymmetry in B ± → π ± K + K − decays is confirmed, and C P asymmetries are observed with a significance of more than five standard deviations in the B ± → π ± π + π − and B ± → K ± K + K − decays, while the C P asymmetry of B ± → K ± π + π − decays is confirmed to be compatible with zero. The distributions of these asymmetries are also studied as a function of the three-body phase space and suggest contributions from rescattering and resonance interference processes. An indication of the presence of the decays B ± → π ± χ c 0 ( 1 P ) in both B ± → π ± π + π − and B ± → π ± K + K − decays is observed, as is C P violation involving these amplitudes

Measurement of J/ψ -pair production in pp collisions at √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 √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 &lt; pT&lt; 14 GeV/c and rapidity range 2.0 &lt; y &lt; 4.5. The cross-section of this process is measured to be 16.36 ± 0.28 (stat) ± 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 ∆y between the two J/ψ mesons. The effective cross-section of double-parton scattering is measured to be σeff = 13.1 ± 1.8 (stat) ± 2.3 (syst) mb. The distribution of the azimuthal angle ϕCS of one of the J/ψ mesons in the Collins-Soper frame and the pT-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 ⟨cos 2ϕCS⟩ and ⟨cos 4ϕCS⟩ are consistent with zero, but the presence of azimuthal asymmetry at a few percent level is allowed

Studies of the resonance structure in D0→K∓π±π±π∓ decays

Amplitude models are constructed to describe the resonance structure of D0→K−π+π+π− and D0→K+π−π−π+ decays using pp collision data collected at centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV with the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.0 fb−1 . The largest contributions to both decay amplitudes are found to come from axial resonances, with decay modes D0→a1(1260)+K− and D0→K1(1270/1400)+π− being prominent in D0→K−π+π+π− and D0→K+π−π−π+ , respectively. Precise measurements of the lineshape parameters and couplings of the a1(1260)+ , K1(1270)− and K(1460)− resonances are made, and a quasi model-independent study of the K(1460)− resonance is performed. The coherence factor of the decays is calculated from the amplitude models to be RK3π=0.459±0.010(stat)±0.012(syst)±0.020(model) , which is consistent with direct measurements. These models will be useful in future measurements of the unitary-triangle angle γ and studies of charm mixing and CP violation

Highlights from the LHCb experiment

We report recent results by the LHCb collaboration in heavy-ion collisions in collider and fixed-target mode at the LHC. A large variety of measurements show the potential of LHCb in nuclear collisions

Amplitude analysis of the B0 (s)! K0K0 decays and measurement of the branching fraction of the B0! K0K0 decay

The B→ K∗ 0K¯ ∗ 0 and Bs0→K∗0K¯∗0 decays are studied using proton-proton collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3 fb−1. An untagged and timeintegrated amplitude analysis of B(s)0 → (K+π−)(K−π+) decays in two-body invariant mass regions of 150 MeV/c2 around the K∗0 mass is performed. A stronger longitudinal polarisation fraction in the B→ K∗ 0K¯ ∗ 0 decay, fL = 0.724 ± 0.051 (stat) ± 0.016 (syst), is observed as compared to fL = 0.240 ± 0.031 (stat) ± 0.025 (syst) in the Bs0→K∗0K¯∗0 decay. The ratio of branching fractions of the two decays is measured and used to determine ℬ(B0→K∗0K¯∗0)=(8.0±0.9(stat)±0.4(syst))×10−7.[Figure not available: see fulltext.