The Standard Model of particle physics currently provides our best description of fundamental particles and their interactions. The theory predicts that the different charged leptons, the electron, muon and tau, have identical electroweak interaction strengths. Previous measurements have shown a wide range of particle decays are consistent with this principle of lepton universality. This article presents evidence for the breaking of lepton universality in beauty-quark decays, with a significance of 3.1 standard deviations, based on proton-proton collision data collected with the LHCb detector at CERN's Large Hadron Collider. The measurements are of processes in which a beauty meson transforms into a strange meson with the emission of either an electron and a positron, or a muon and an antimuon. If confirmed by future measurements, this violation of lepton universality would imply physics beyond the Standard Model, such as a new fundamental interaction between quarks and leptons.
Likelihood function from the fit to the nonresonant $B^+$ --> $K^+\ell^+ \ell^−$ candidates profiled as a function of $R_K$.
The production cross-sections of B mesons are measured in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, using data collected with the LHCb detector corresponding to a integrated luminosity of 0.36 fb-1. The B+, B0 and Bs0 mesons are reconstructed in the exclusive decays B+ -> J/psi K+, B0 -> J/psi K*0 and Bs0 -> J/psi phi, with J/psi -> mu+ mu-, K*0 -> K+ pi- and phi -> K+ K-. The differential cross-sections are measured as functions of B meson transverse momentum pT and rapidity y, in the range 0 < pT < 40 GeV/c and 2.0 < y < 4.5. The integrated cross-sections in the same pT and y ranges, including charge-conjugate states, are measured to be sigma(pp -> B+ + X) = 38.9 +- 0.3 (stat.) +- 2.5 (syst.) +- 1.3 (norm.) mub, sigma(pp -> B0 + X) = 38.1 +- 0.6 (stat.) +- 3.7 (syst.) +- 4.7 (norm.) mub, sigma(pp -> Bs0 + X) = 10.5 +- 0.2 (stat.) +- 0.8 (syst.) +- 1.0 (norm.) mub, where the third uncertainty arises from the pre-existing branching fraction measurements.
Integrated cross sections for B mesons in the defined kinematic range. The second (sys) uncertainty is the normalisation uncertainty arising from the pre-existing branching fraction measurements.
Double Differential distributions for B0 production.
Double differential distributions for B+ production.
The production of B+- mesons in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV is studied using 35 pb-1 of data collected by the LHCb detector. The B+- mesons are reconstructed exclusively in the B+- -> J/psi K+- mode, with J/psi -> mu+ mu-. The differential production cross-section is measured as a function of the B+- transverse momentum in the fiducial region 0 < pT < 40 GeV/c and with rapidity 2.0 < y < 4.5. The total cross-section, summing up B+ and B-, is measured to be sigma(pp -> B+- X, 0 < pT < 40 GeV/c, 2.0 < y < 4.5) = 41.4 +- 1.5 (stat.) +- 3.1 (syst.) mub.
Integrated B+- production cross section for 0<PT<40 GeV and 2.0<Y<4.5.
Differential B+- production cross section as a function of PT for rapidity 2.0 to 4.5.
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