Precision measurement of the $Λ_c^+$, $Ξ_c^+$ and $Ξ_c^0$ baryon lifetimes

Abstract

We report measurements of the lifetimes of the $Λ_c^+$, $Ξ_c^+$ and $Ξ_c^0$ charm baryons using proton-proton collision data at center-of-mass energies of 7 and 8\tev, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.0 fb$^{-1}$, collected by the LHCb experiment. The charm baryons are reconstructed through the decays $Λ_c^+\to pK^-π^+$, $Ξ_c^+\to pK^-π^+$ and $Ξ_c^0\to pK^-K^-π^+$, and originate from semimuonic decays of beauty baryons. The lifetimes are measured relative to that of the $D^+$ meson, and are determined to be \begin{align*} τ_{Λ_c^+} &= 203.5\pm1.0\pm1.3\pm1.4~{\rm fs}, \newline τ_{Ξ_c^+} &= 456.8\pm3.5\pm2.9\pm3.1~{\rm fs}, \newline τ_{Ξ_c^0} &= 154.5\pm1.7\pm1.6\pm1.0~{\rm fs}, \end{align*} where the uncertainties are statistical, systematic, and due to the uncertainty in the $D^+$ lifetime. The measurements are approximately 3--4 times more precise than the current world average values. The $Λ_c^+$ and $Ξ_c^+$ lifetimes are in agreement with previous measurements; however, the $Ξ_c^0$ baryon lifetime is approximately 3.3 standard deviations larger than the world average value.

9 pages, 2 figures. All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2019-008.html

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