Production of orbitally excited charm mesons in semileptonic B decays

A sample of 3.6 million hadronic Z decays recorded between 1991 and 1995 with the ALEPH detector at LEP is used to investigate semileptonic decays of B mesons into final states involving orbitally excited charm mesons. Topological vertex criteria are used to search for decays involving narrow D** states as well as wide D** resonances and non-resonant D(*)π final states. The sum of the branching ratios for these processes is measured to be ${? Br}({?erline {? B}}?ghtarrow {? D}? ?l^{-}{?erline v}) + {? Br}({?erline {? B}}?ghtarrow {? D}^{?t}? ?l^{-}{?erline v})?op =(2.26 pm 0.29({? stat}) pm 0.33({? syst}))%,$which accounts for a significant fraction of the deficit between inclusive measurements and the sum of exclusive semileptonic B decay modes.     

Quark combinatorics and meson-production ratios in hadronic Z 0 decays

A vast body of experimental data accumulated in the past few years in hadronic Z ⁰ decays allows one to check quark-combinatorics relations for a new type of processes-namely, quark jets in the decays Z ⁰ → $q\bar q$ → hadrons. In this paper, we review quark-combinatorics rules for the yields of vector and pseudoscalar mesons, V/P, in the central and fragmentation regions of hadronic Z ⁰ decays. It is emphasized that, in the central region, a direct verification of quark-combinatorics rules is rather problematic because of a considerable background associated with the decay of highly excited resonances; however, such a verification is possible in the fragmentation region, at x _hadron～0.5–1, where the contribution of resonance decays is suppressed owing to a fast decrease of the spectra with increasing x _hadron. It is shown that, in the fragmentation region, experimental data on ρ⁰/π⁰ and p/π⁺ are in reasonable agreement with the predictions of quark combinatorics. The ratios of the heavy-meson yields, B*/B and D*/D, are also discussed: the data demonstrate good agreement with the quark combinatorial results. We analyze the structure of the suppression parameters for strange-and heavy-quark production in soft processes and estimate their orders of magnitude in multiperipheral processes; the ratio K ^±/π^± at x _hadron～0.5–0.8 and the production probabilities for $c\bar c$ and $b\bar b$ mesons are in good agreement with the estimates.     

The production of neutral kaons in Z0 decays and their Bose-Einstein correlations

Updated measurements of the B⁰ and B⁺ meson lifetimes are presented. From a data sample of 1.72 million hadronic Z⁰ decays recorded during the period 1991 to 1993, a sample of approximately 1000 semileptonic B meson decays containing a D⁰, D⁺ or D^*+ has been isolated. From the distribution of decay times in the different samples the lifetimes of the B⁰ and B⁺ mesons are determined to be 1.53±0.12±0.08 ps and 1.52±0.14±0.09 ps, respectively, where the first error is statistical and the second systematic. The ratio of the B⁺ to B⁰ lifetimes is measured to be 0.99±0.14 _–0.04 ^+0.05 , confirming expectations that the lifetimes are similar.     

J/Ψ and Ψ′ production in hadronic Z0 decays

The production of Jψ mesons in Z⁰ decays is studied using 3.6 million hadronic events recorded by the OPAL detector at LEP. The inclusive Z⁰ to Jψ and b-quark to Jψ branching ratios are measured from the total yield of Jψ mesons, identified from their decays into lepton pairs. The Jψ momentum distribution is used to study the fragmentation of b-quarks. The production rate of ψ′ mesons, identified from their decays into a Jψ and a π⁺π^? pair, is measured as well. The following results are obtained: ${Br(Z^{0}?ghtarrow {? J}/?i X)=(3.9pm 0.2pm 0.3)cdot 10^{-3} {? and} ?op Br(Z^0?ghtarrow ?i ^?ime X)=(1.6pm 0.3pm 0.2)cdot 10^{-3}, }$ where the first error is statistical and the second systematic. Finally the Jψ sample is used to reconstruct exclusive b-hadron decays and calculate the corresponding b-hadron branching ratios and masses.     

Single spin asymmetry for charm mesons

We study single spin asymmetries of D̄⁰ and D^- mesons in polarized proton–proton collisions. A two component model is used to describe charm meson production. The production of D mesons occurs by recombination of the constituents present in the initial state as well as by fragmentation of quarks in the final state. This model has proved to describe the production of charm. The recombination component involves a mechanism of spin alignment that ends up in a single spin asymmetry. Experimental measurements of single spin asymmetry for pions at RHIC are compared with the model. Predictions for the asymmetry in D mesons are presented.     

Strange baryon production in hadronic Z0 decays

The production of the $J^{P}={1?er 2}^{+}$ octet baryons Λ and Ξ^?, the $J^{P}={3?er 2}^{+}$ decuplet baryons Σ(1385)^±Ξ(1530)⁰, and Ω^?, and the $J^{P}={3?er 2}^{-}$ orbitally excited state Λ(1520) has been measured in a sample of approximately 3.65 million hadronic Z⁰ decays. The integrated rates and the differential cross-sections as a function of x _E, the scaled energy, are determined. The differential cross-sections of the Λ and Ξ^? baryons are found to be softer than those predicted by both the JETSET and HERWIG Monte Carlo generators. The measured baryon yields are found to disagree with the simple diquark picture where only one tuning parameter for spin 1 diquarks is allowed. The yields are further compared with a thermodynamic model of hadron production which includes the production of orbitally excited mesons and baryons. The momentum spectra of Λ, Ξ^?, Σ(1385)^±Ξ(1530)⁰, and Λ(1520) are also compared to the predictions of an analytical QCD formula.     

Open charm measurements at STAR

We report on the measurements of D⁰ meson production via direct reconstruction through the hadronic decay channel D⁰→Kπ in minimum bias d+Au and Au+Au collisions at with p_T up to ∼3 GeV/c. We derive the charm production total cross-section per nucleon–nucleon collision from a combination of three measurements: the D⁰ meson spectra, the non-photonic electron spectra from charm semi-leptonic decays obtained in p+p, d+Au, and Au+Au collisions, and the charm-decayed single muon (prompt muon) spectra at low p_T in Au+Au collisions. The cross-section is found to follow binary scaling, which is a signature of charm production exclusively at the initial impact. The implications of charm quark energy-loss and thermalization in the strongly interacting matter are discussed. PACS 25.75.Dw; 13.20.Fc; 13.25.Ft; 24.85.+p     

D-mesons and charmonium states in hot isospin asymmetric strange hadronic matter

We study the properties of D and [`(D)] \bar{{D}} mesons in hot isospin asymmetric strange hadronic matter, arising due to their interactions with the hadrons in the hyperonic medium. The interactions of D and [`(D)] \bar{{D}} mesons with these light hadrons are derived by generalizing the chiral SU(3) model used for the study of hyperonic matter to SU(4). The nucleons, hyperons, the scalar isoscalar meson, σ and the scalar-isovector meson, d \delta as modified in the strange hadronic matter, modify the masses of D and [`(D)] \bar{{D}} mesons. It is found that, as compared to the [`(D)] \bar{{D}} mesons ([`(D<sup>0</sup>)] \bar{{D^0}}, D <sup>−</sup>), the properties of the D mesons (D <sup>0</sup>, D <sup>+</sup>) are more sensitive to the isospin asymmetry at high densities. On the other hand, the effects of strangeness fraction are found to be more dominant for the [`(D)] \bar{{D}} mesons as compared to the D mesons and these modifications are observed to be particularly appreciable at high densities. We also study the mass modifications of the charmonium states J/ψ, ψ(3686) and ψ(3770) in the isospin asymmetric strange hadronic matter at finite temperatures and investigate the possibility of the decay of the charmonium states into D [`(D)] \bar{{D}} pairs in the hot hadronic medium. The mass modifications of these charmonium states arise due to their interaction with the gluon condensates of QCD, simulated by a scalar dilaton field introduced to incorporate the broken scale invariance of QCD within the effective chiral model. The effects of finite quark masses are taken into account in the trace of the energy momentum tensor in QCD, while investigating the medium modification of the charmonium masses through the modification of the gluon condensate in the medium. We also compute the partial decay widths of the charmonium states to the D [`(D)] \bar{{D}} pairs in the hadronic medium. The strong dependence on density of the in-medium properties of the D, [`(D)] \bar{{D}} and the charmonium states, as well as the partial decay widths of charmonium states to D [`(D)] \bar{{D}} pairs, found in the present investigation, will be of direct relevance in observables like open charm enhancement as well as J/ψ suppression in the compressed baryonic matter (CBM) experiments at the future Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research, GSI, where the baryonic matter at high densities is planned to be produced.     

Nonfactorizable contributions to charm meson (D→ PP) decays

Two-body weak decays of charm mesons into two pseudoscalar mesons are examined employing SU(3) flavor symmetry for the non-factorizable matrix elements. Using certain measured Cabibbo-favored modes, we fix the reduced matrix elements and predict the branching ratios of the Cabibbo-angle suppressed and doubly-suppressed decays of D and D _s mesons.     

Semileptonic decays ofB mesons into excited charm mesons: Leading order and 1/m c contributions

We use the heavy quark effective theory to investigate the form factors that describe the semileptonic decays of aB meson into excited daughter mesons. For an excited daughter meson with charm, a single form factor is needed at leading order, while five form factors and two dimensionful constants are needed to order 1/m _c in the heavy quark expansion. For non-charmed final states, a total of four form factors are needed at leading order. For the processBD ^* X, four form factors are also needed at leading order.     

Neutral charm production in 400 GeV proton-emulsion interactions

A search has been carried out for neutral charm production in 5,108 proton-emulsion interactions at 400 GeV/c. Nine charm candidates have been observed in our fiducial volume which extends from 100 μm-1,000 μm in the forward cone. One of these is a 4-prong and the others are 2-prong events with opening angle>10 mrad and momenta of both decay tracks>150 MeV/c. Search for associated charm decays was made in an extended fiducial volume around the primary stars of these nine candidates. This yielded two neutral 2-prong events, one associated with the 4-prong and the other with a 2-prong candidate. All unassociated candidates are consistent with being backgrounds due toK _s , Λ decays, neutral interactions and γ conversions whereas the background to associated events is negligible. Based on the two associated decays the inclusive cross section forD ^{0, ?0} production is determined as 27±20 μb/nucleon. Detailed measurements on the 4-prong candidate lead to the identification of one decay track as an electron and another as a kaon. This is interpreted as a semi-leptonic, Cabbibo favouredD ⁰/D ^?0 decay.     

Soft-gluon effects in nonleptonic decays of charmed mesons

Soft-gluon effects in nonleptonic decays of D and F mesons are studied nonperturbatively by use of a QCD multipole expansion. For reasonable values of D-meson bound-state parameters, the soft-gluon effects lead to a significant difference in the lifetimes of the D⁰ and D⁺ mesons.     

Production properties ofD 0,D +,D *+ andD s + in 230 GeV/cπ − andK −-Cu interactions

We have studied the hadronic production of charmed mesons in the NA 32 experiment at CERN. A special trigger together with a high resolution vertex detector consisting of charge coupled devices and silicon microstrip detectors allowed the selection of very clean samples of charmed mesons. We have collected 852 fully reconstructed decays: 60D _s ⁺ →K ⁺ K ^?π⁺, 543D°→K ^?π⁺ andK ^?π⁺π^?π⁺ as well as 249D ⁺→K ^?π⁺π⁺ (or charge conjugate). 147 mesons out of our \({{D^0 } \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{D^0 } {\bar D^0 }}} \right. \kern-0em} {\bar D^0 }}\) sample were produced via chargedD ^* state. For all charmed mesons we determine the total production cross-section and study thex _F andp _t ² distributions.     

Hadron molecules

We discuss a possible interpretation of the open charm mesons D*s0 (2317),D s1 (2460) and the hidden charm mesons X(3872),Y(3940) and Y(4140) as hadron molecules.Using a phenomenological Lagrangian approach we review the strong and radiative decays of the D* s0 (2317) and D s1 (2460) states.The X(3872) is assumed to consist dominantly of molecular hadronic components with an additional small admixture of a charmonium configuration.Determing the radiative (γJ/ψ and γψ(2s)) and strong (J/ψ2π and J/ψ3π) decay modes we show that the present experimental observation is consistent with the molecular structure assumption of the X(3872).Finally,we give evidence for molecular interpretations of the Y(3940) and Y(4140) related to the observed strong decay modes J/ψ+ω or J/ψ+φ,respectively.     

Measurement of electron-muon correlations from semi-leptonic D decay in 200 GeV p + p collisions at RHIC-PHENIX

Charm production is a valuable probe of the early stages of a heavy ion collision. Correlated electron-muon pairs are a signature of semi-leptonic D decays, and a measurement of D mesons provides information on charm quark energy loss in the hot medium. The energy loss of heavy quarks is still not fully understood, so it is vital to investigate different decay channels of charm mesons to better understand this process. Measurements of electron-muon pairs suffer less from background than e ⁺ e ⁻ or μ⁺μ⁻ pairs since neither direct lepton production nor resonance decays produce this type of correlated signal. Another advantage is that because electrons are measured in the central arms and muons are measured in the forward region in PHENIX, open charm can be probed in a rapidity region different from previous dilepton measurements. Studying electron-muon pairs in p + p collisions provides an important baseline for the study of these processes in d + Au and Au + Au collisions. The data in this analysis was obtained during the 2006 RHIC run of p + p collisions at 200 GeV. The current status of this analysis will be presented.     

A search for excited fermions at HERA

A search for excited fermions f of the first generation in scattering at the collider HERA is presented using H1 data with an integrated luminosity of 37 pb. All electroweak decays of excited fermions, f f f W,f Z are considered and all possible final states resulting from the Z orW hadronic decays or decays into leptons of the first two generations are taken into account. No evidence for f production is found. Mass dependent exclusion limits on cross-sections and on the ratio of coupling constants to the compositeness scale are derived. Received: 19 July 2000 / Published online: 23 October 2000     

Feasibility study of model-independent approach to φ3 measurement using Dalitz plot analysis

In this paper, we present results of a feasibility study of a model-independent way to measure the angle φ₃ of the unitarity triangle. The method involves B^±→DK^± decays where the neutral D decays to the K⁰ _Sπ⁺π^- final state, together with the sample of decays of CP-tagged D mesons (produced, e.g. in ψ(3770)→DD̄ process) to the same final state. We consider different approaches to the extraction of φ₃ and obtain the expected statistical accuracy of the φ₃ measurement as a function of B and D_CP statistics. PACS 11.30.Er, 12.15.Hh     

Large charmless yield inB decays and inclusiveB decay puzzles

In recent studies of inclusiveB decays, it has been suggested that eitherB mesons decay much more copiously to final states with no open charm than currently assumed, orB(D ⁰ → K^?π⁺) has to be reduced significantly. This note takes the experimentalB(D ⁰ → K^?π⁺) at its face value and estimatesB(b → no open charm) using complementary methods: one accounts for thec quark inb → c transitions, the other accounts for the c quark inb → ccs transitions. Through cancellation of errors, the average gives our best estimate ofB(b → no open charm), and the difference measures the consistency. The results of the methods are consistent with each other, strongly suggesting a much enhancedB(b → no open charm). This observation indicates that non-perturbative QCD effects are probably causing a sizable fraction of theb → ccs transitions to be seen as charmlessb → s processes, contrary to smaller traditional expectations. This mechanism has generally been overlooked and may explain the existing experimental data within the framework of the standard model. We then briefly discuss implications on baryon production governed byb → ccs processes, rare hadronicB decays and CP violation studies.     

B* production in Z0 decays

The process B*→Bγ has been observed in a sample of approximately 4.1 million hadronic Z⁰ decays collected by the OPAL detector at LEP in the years 1991–1995. Inclusively reconstructed B mesons have been combined with converted photons to reconstruct approximately 1900 B* mesons. The B*–B mass difference is found to be ΔM(B* ?B) = 46.2 ± 0.3 ± 0.8 MeV/c ², and the rate of B* meson production relative to that of B mesons is found to be σ _B*/σ _B = 0.760 ± 0.036 ± 0.083, where the first errors are statistical and the second systematic. The angular distribution of the transition photon in the B* rest frame has been measured and the relative contribution of longitudinal B* polarization states found to be σ _l/(σ _l + σ _t ) = 0.36 ± 0.06 ± 0.07, consistent with a simple spin counting picture. These results average over B⁰, B± and B _s ⁰ mesons.