Measurement of the lifetime of the Bc+ meson using the Bc+→J/ψπ+ decay mode

• Published in: Physics letters. B 2015-03, Vol.742, p.29-37
• Main Authors: Ajaltouni, Z., Amhis, Y., Anderlini, L., Andreotti, M., Aquines Gutierrez, O., Barlow, R.J., Beddow, J., Ben-Haim, E., Bencivenni, G., van Beuzekom, M., Blouw, J., Bocci, V., Britsch, M., Britton, T., Cadeddu, S., Campana, P., Carboni, G., Cardinale, R., Carson, L., Cenci, R., Charpentier, Ph, Cheung, S.-F., Cogan, J., Cojocariu, L., Comerma-Montells, A., Couturier, B., Di Canto, A., Donleavy, S., Dovbnya, A., Dujany, G., Egede, U., Falabella, A., Fol, P., Gavardi, L., Göbel, C., Golutvin, A., Grecu, A., Gushchin, E., He, J., Henry, L., van Herwijnen, E., Heß, M., Hill, D., Hoballah, M., Jacobsson, R., Jawahery, A., Jones, C.R., Jurik, N., Khurewathanakul, C., Kreplin, K., Kruse, F., Kudryavtsev, V., Lai, A., Langhans, B., van Leerdam, J., Liles, M., Luo, H., Machefert, F., Machikhiliyan, I.V., Manca, G., Martins Tostes, D., McCann, M., Minard, M.-N., Muster, B., Nakada, T., Nguyen, A.D., Nicol, M., Orlandea, M., Palombo, F., Panman, J., Parkes, C., Patel, M., Pilař, T., Potterat, C., Price, E., Pritchard, A., Raven, G., Rihl, M., Rives Molina, V., Rouvinet, J., Ruiz Valls, P., Saborido Silva, J.J., Schmelling, M., Simi, G., Smith, E., Smith, M., Sokoloff, M.D., Stracka, S., Thomas, C., Tomassetti, L., Ubeda Garcia, M., Vacca, C., Vázquez Sierra, C., Vieira, D., Wallace, C., Wang, J., Wilson, F.F., Wormser, G., Xing, Z., Zhang, L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0370-2693; 1873-2445
• DOI: 10.1016/j.physletb.2015.01.010

The difference in total widths between the Bc+ and B+ mesons is measured using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.0 fb−1 collected by the LHCb experiment in 7 and 8 TeV centre-of-mass energy proton–proton collisions at the LHC. Through the study of the time evolution of Bc+→J/ψπ+ and B+→J/ψK+ decays, the width difference is measured to beΔΓ≡ΓBc+−ΓB+=4.46±0.14±0.07 mm−1c, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic. The known lifetime of the B+ meson is used to convert this to a precise measurement of the Bc+ lifetime,τBc+=513.4±11.0±5.7 fs, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic.