Charmful Baryonic B Decays $\bar B^0\toΛ_c\bar p$ and $\bar B\toΛ_c\bar pπ(ρ)$

Abstract

We study the two-body and three-body charmful baryonic B decays: $\bar B^0\to Λ_c\bar p$ and $\bar B\to Λ_c \bar pπ(ρ)$. The factorizable W-exchange contribution to $\bar B^0\toΛ_c\bar p$ is negligible. Applying the bag model to evaluate the baryon-to-baryon weak transition matrix element, we find $B(\bar B^0\toΛ_c\bar p)\leq 1.1\times 10^{-5}|g_{B^0pΣ_b^+}/6|^2$ with $g_{B^0pΣ_b^+}$ being a strong coupling for the decay $Σ_b^+\to \bar B^0 p$ and hence the predicted branching ratio is well below the current experimental limit. The factorizable contributions to $B^-\toΛ_c\bar pπ^-$ can account for the observed branching ratio of order $6\times 10^{-4}$. The branching ratio of order $2\times 10^{-3}$ for $B^-\toΛ_c\bar pρ^-$ is larger than that of $B^-\toΛ_c\bar pπ^-$ by a factor of about 2.6. We explain why the three-body charmful baryonic B decay has a larger rate than the two-body one, contrary to the case of mesonic B decays.

17 pages, 2 figures. Form factors for Lambda_c-p transitions are corrected. Strong couplings are slightly modified. To appear in Phys. Rev. D