Roadmap for selected key measurements of LHCb

379 pagesSix of the key physics measurements that will be made by the LHCb experiment, concerning CP asymmetries and rare B decays, are discussed in detail. The "road map" towards the precision measurements is presented, including the use of control channels and other techniques to understand the performance of the detector with the first data from the LHC

First observation of Bs -> J/psi f0(980) decays

Using data collected with the LHCb detector in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, the hadronic decay Bs -> J/psi f0(980) is observed. This CP eigenstate mode could be used to measure mixing-induced CP violation in the B_s system. Using a fit to the pi+ pi- mass spectrum with interfering resonances gives R_{f0/phi} = [Gamma(Bs -> J/psi f0, f0 -> pi+ pi-)]/[Gamma(Bs -> J/psi phi, phi -> K+K-)] = 0.252^{+0.046+0.027}_{-0.032-0.033}, where the uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively

Determination of f_s/f_d for 7 TeV pp collisions and a measurement of the branching fraction of the decay Bd->D-K+

The relative abundance of the three decay modes $B_d \to D^- K^+$, $B_d \to D^- \pi^+$ and $B_s \to D_s^- \pi^+$ produced in 7 TeV $pp$ collisions at the LHC is determined from data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35 pb$^{-1}$. The branching fraction of $B_d \to D^- K^+$ is found to be $\cal B (B_d \to D^- K^+) = (2.01 \pm 0.18^{\textrm{stat}} \pm 0.14^{\textrm{syst}})\times 10^{-4}$. The ratio of fragmentation fractions \fsfdt is determined through the relative abundance of $B_s \to D_s^- \pi^+$ to $B_d \to D^- K^+$ and $B_d \to D^-\pi^+$, leading to $f_s/f_d = 0.253 \pm 0.017 \pm 0.017 \pm 0.020$, where the uncertainties are statistical, systematic, and theoretical respectively

Search for the rare decays Bs -->mumu and Bd -->mumu

A search for the decays Bs-->mumu and Bd-->mumu is performed with about 37 pb^{-1} of pp collisions at sqrt{s} = 7 TeV collected by the LHCb experiment at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. The observed numbers of events are consistent with the background expectations. The resulting upper limits on the branching ratios are BR(Bs-->mumu) < 5.6 x 10^{-8} and BR(Bd-->mumu) <1.5 x 10^{-8} at 95% confidence level

Measurements of the Branching fractions for B_(s) -> D_(s)πππ and Λ_b^0 -> Λ_c^+πππ

Branching fractions of the decays $H_b\to H_c\pi^-\pi^+\pi^-$ relative to $H_b\to H_c\pi^-$ are presented, where $H_b$ ($H_c$) represents B^0-bar($D^+$), $B^-$ ($D^0$), B_s^0-bar ($D_s^+$) and $\Lambda_b^0$ ($\Lambda_c^+$). The measurements are performed with the LHCb detector using 35${\rm pb^{-1}}$ of data collected at $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV. The ratios of branching fractions are measured to be B(B^0-bar -> D^+\pi^-\pi^+\pi^-)/ B(B^0-bar -> D^+\pi^-) = 2.38\pm0.11\pm0.21 B(B^- -> D^0\pi^-\pi^+\pi^-) / B(B^- -> D^0\pi^-) = 1.27\pm0.06\pm0.11 B(B_s^0-bar -> D_s^+\pi^-\pi^+\pi^-) / B(B_s^0-bar -> D_s^+\pi^-) = 2.01\pm0.37\pm0.20 B(\Lambda_b^0->\Lambda_c^+\pi^-\pi^+\pi^-) / B(\Lambda_b^0 -> \Lambda_c^+\pi^-) = 1.43\pm0.16\pm0.13. We also report measurements of partial decay rates of these decays to excited charm hadrons. These results are of comparable or higher precision than existing measurements

First observation of Bs -> D_{s2}^{*+} X mu nu decays

Using data collected with the LHCb detector in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, the semileptonic decays Bs -> Ds+ X mu nu and Bs -> D0 K+ X mu nu are detected. Two structures are observed in the D0 K+ mass spectrum at masses consistent with the known D^+_{s1}(2536) and $D^{*+}_{s2}(2573) mesons. The measured branching fractions relative to the total Bs semileptonic rate are B(Bs -> D_{s2}^{*+} X mu nu)/B(Bs -> X mu nu)= (3.3\pm 1.0\pm 0.4)%, and B(Bs -> D_{s1}^+ X munu)/B(Bs -> X mu nu)= (5.4\pm 1.2\pm 0.5)%, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic. This is the first observation of the D_{s2}^{*+} state in Bs decays; we also measure its mass and width

Search for the rare decays B-s(0) -> mu(+)mu(-) and B-0 -> mu(+)mu(-)

A search for the decays B-s(0) -> mu(+)mu(-) and B-0 -> mu(+)mu(-) is performed with 0.37 fb(-1) of pp collisions at root s = 7 TeV collected by the LHCb experiment in 2011. The upper limits on the branching fractions are B(B-s(0) -> mu(+)mu(-)) mu(+)mu(-)) mu(+)mu(-)) mu(+)mu(-)) < 3.2 x 10(-9) at 95% confidence level

First Observation of the Decays (B)over-bar(0) -> D+K-pi(+)pi(-) and B- -> (DK-)-K-0 pi(+)pi(-)

First observations of the Cabibbo-suppressed decays (B) over bar (0) -> D+K-pi(+)pi(-) and B- -> (DK-)-K-0 pi(+)pi(-) are reported using 35 pb(-1) of data collected with the LHCb detector. Their branching fractions are measured with respect to the corresponding Cabibbo-favored decays, from which we obtain B((B) over bar (0) -> D+K-pi(+)pi(-))/B((B) over bar (0) -> D+pi(-)pi(+)pi(-) = (5.9 +/- 1.1 +/- 0.5) x 10(-2) and B(B- -> (DK-)-K-0 pi(+)pi(-))/B(B- -> D-0 pi(-)pi(+)pi(-)) = (0.9 +/- 1.3 +/- 0.9) x 10(-2), where the uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively. The B- -> (DK-)-K-0 pi(+)pi(-) decay is particularly interesting, as it can be used in a similar way to B- -> (DK-)-K-0 to measure the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa phase gamma

Absolute luminosity measurements with the LHCb detector at the LHC

Absolute luminosity measurements are of general interest for colliding-beam experiments at storage rings. These measurements are necessary to determine the absolute cross-sections of reaction processes and are valuable to quantify the performance of the accelerator. Using data taken in 2010, LHCb has applied two methods to determine the absolute scale of its luminosity measurements for proton-proton collisions at the LHC with a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV. In addition to the classic "van der Meer scan" method a novel technique has been developed which makes use of direct imaging of the individual beams using beam-gas and beam-beam interactions. This beam imaging method is made possible by the high resolution of the LHCb vertex detector and the close proximity of the detector to the beams, and allows beam parameters such as positions, angles and widths to be determined. The results of the two methods have comparable precision and are in good agreement. Combining the two methods, an overal precision of 3.5% in the absolute luminosity determination is reached. The techniques used to transport the absolute luminosity calibration to the full 2010 data-taking period are presented. RI Coca, Cornelia/B-6015-2012; Galli, Domenico/A-1606-2012; Petrolini, Alessandro/H-3782-2011; Sarti, Alessio/I-2833-2012; manca, giulia/I-9264-2012; de Paula, Leandro/I-9278-2012; Patrignani, Claudia/C-5223-2009; Marconi, Umberto/J-2263-2012; de Simone, Patrizia/J-3549-2012; Cardini, Alessandro/J-5736-2012; Teodorescu, Eliza/K-3044-201