Search for B⁻ → Λpνν with the BABAR experiment

Abstract

A search for the rare flavor-changing neutral current process B⁻→Λpνν using data from the BABAR experiment has been performed. A total of 424  fb⁻¹ of e^+e^− collision data collected at the center-of-mass energy of the Υ(4S) resonance is used in this study, corresponding to a sample of (471±3)×10⁶ BB̅ pairs. Signal B⁻→Λpνν candidates are identified by first fully reconstructing a B⁺ decay in one of many possible exclusive decays to hadronic final states, then examining detector activity that is not associated with this reconstructed B⁺ decay for evidence of a signal B⁻→Λpνν decay. The data yield is found to be consistent with the expected background contribution under a null signal hypothesis, resulting in an upper limit of B(B⁻→Λpνν) < 3.0×10⁻⁵ at the 90% confidence level.

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