Observation of $B^{0} \rightarrow p\barΛ D^{(*)-}$

Abstract

We report the first observation of the decays $B^0 \rightarrow p\barΛ D^{(*)-}$. The data sample of $711$ fb$^{-1}$ used in this analysis corresponds to $772$ million $B\bar{B}$ pairs, collected at the $Υ(4S)$ resonance by the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy $e^{+}e^{-}$ collider. We observe $19.8σ$ and $10.8σ$ excesses of events for the two decay modes and measure the branching fractions of $B^0 \rightarrow p\barΛ D^{-}$ and $B^0 \rightarrow p\barΛ D^{*-}$ to be $(25.1\pm2.6\pm3.5)\times10^{-6}$ and $(33.6\pm6.3\pm4.4)\times10^{-6}$, respectively, where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second are systematic. These results are not compatible with the predictions based on the generalized factorization approach. In addition, a threshold enhancement in the di-baryon ($p\barΛ$) system is observed, consistent with that observed in similar $B$ decays.

16 pages, 3 figures and 3 tables, submitted to PRL