Measurement of matter-antimatter differences in beauty baryon decays

LHCb Collaboration; Bernet, R; Müller, K; Serra, N; Steinkamp, O; Straumann, U; Vollhardt, A; et al (2017). Measurement of matter-antimatter differences in beauty baryon decays. Nature Physics, 13:391-396.

Abstract

Differences in the behaviour of matter and antimatter have been observed in K and B meson decays, but not yet in any baryon decay. Such differences are associated with the non-invariance of fundamental interactions under the combined charge-conjugation and parity transformations, known as CP violation. Here, using data from the LHCb experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, we search for CP-violating asymmetries in the decay angle distributions of $\Lambda_b^0$ baryons decaying to $p\pi^-\pi^+\pi^-$ and $p\pi^-K^+K^-$ final states. These four-body hadronic decays are a promising place to search for sources of CP violation both within and beyond the standard model of particle physics. We find evidence for CP violation in $\Lambda_b^0$ to $p\pi^-\pi^+\pi^-$ decays with a statistical significance corresponding to 3.3 standard deviations including systematic uncertainties. This represents the first evidence for CP violation in the baryon sector.

Abstract

Differences in the behaviour of matter and antimatter have been observed in K and B meson decays, but not yet in any baryon decay. Such differences are associated with the non-invariance of fundamental interactions under the combined charge-conjugation and parity transformations, known as CP violation. Here, using data from the LHCb experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, we search for CP-violating asymmetries in the decay angle distributions of $\Lambda_b^0$ baryons decaying to $p\pi^-\pi^+\pi^-$ and $p\pi^-K^+K^-$ final states. These four-body hadronic decays are a promising place to search for sources of CP violation both within and beyond the standard model of particle physics. We find evidence for CP violation in $\Lambda_b^0$ to $p\pi^-\pi^+\pi^-$ decays with a statistical significance corresponding to 3.3 standard deviations including systematic uncertainties. This represents the first evidence for CP violation in the baryon sector.

Statistics

Citations

Dimensions.ai Metrics

Altmetrics

Detailed statistics