We present an up-to-date profile of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix with emphasis on the interpretation of recent CP-violation results from the B factories. For this purpose, we review all ...relevant experimental and theoretical inputs from the contributing domains of electroweak interaction. We give the “standard” determination of the apex of the Unitarity Triangle, namely the Wolfenstein parameters \(\overline\rho\) and \(\overline\eta\), by means of a global CKM fit. The fit is dominated by the precision measurement of \(\sin 2 \beta\) by the B factories. A detailed numerical and graphical study of the impact of the results is presented. We propose to include \(\sin 2\alpha\) from the recent measurement of the time-dependent CP-violating asymmetries in \(B^0\to\rho^ + \rho^-\), using isospin relations to discriminate the penguin contribution. The constraint from \(\varepsilon^\prime/\varepsilon\) is discussed. We study the impact from the branching fraction measurement of the rare kaon decay \(K^ + \to\pi^ + \nu\overline\nu\), and give an outlook into the reach of a future measurement of \(K^0_L\to\pi^0\nu\overline\nu\). The B system is investigated in detail. We display the constraint on \(2\beta + \gamma\) and \(\gamma\) from \(B^0\to D^{(*)\pm}\pi^\mp\) and \(B^ + \to D^{(*)0}K^ + \) decays, respectively. A significant part of this paper is dedicated to the understanding of the dynamics of B decays into \(\pi\pi\), \(K\pi\), \(\rho\pi\), \(\rho\rho\) and modes related to these by flavor symmetry. Various phenomenological approaches and theoretical frameworks are discussed. We find a remarkable agreement of the \(\pi\pi\) and \(K\pi\) data with the other constraints in the unitarity plane when the hadronic matrix elements are calculated within QCD Factorization, where we apply a conservative treatment of the theoretical uncertainties. A global fit of QCD Factorization to all \(\pi\pi\) and \(K\pi\) data leads to precise predictions of the related observables. However sizable phenomenological power corrections are preferred. Using an isospin-based phenomenological parameterization, we analyze separately the \(B\to K\pi\) decays, and the impact of electroweak penguins in response to recent discussions. We find that the present data are not sufficiently precise to constrain either electroweak parameters or hadronic amplitude ratios. We do not observe any unambiguous sign of New Physics, whereas there is some evidence for potentially large non-perturbative rescattering effects. Finally we use a model-independent description of a large class of New Physics effects in both \(B^0\overline B^0\) mixing and B decays, namely in the \(b\to d\) and \(b\to s\) gluonic penguin amplitudes, to perform a new numerical analysis. Significant non-standard corrections cannot be excluded yet, however Standard Model solutions are favored in most cases. In the appendix to this paper we propose a frequentist method to extract a confidence level on \(\Delta m_s\) from the experimental information on \(B^0_s \overline B_s^0\) oscillation. In addition we describe a novel approach to combine potentially inconsistent measurements. All results reported in this paper have been obtained with the numerical analysis package CKMfitter, featuring the frequentist statistical approach Rfit.
We search for single-photon events in 53 fb^{-1} of e^{+}e^{-} collision data collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II B-Factory. We look for events with a single high-energy photon and a ...large missing momentum and energy, consistent with production of a spin-1 particle A^{'} through the process e^{+}e^{-}→γA^{'}; A^{'}→invisible. Such particles, referred to as "dark photons," are motivated by theories applying a U(1) gauge symmetry to dark matter. We find no evidence for such processes and set 90% confidence level upper limits on the coupling strength of A^{'} to e^{+}e^{-} in the mass range m_{A^{'}}≤8 GeV. In particular, our limits exclude the values of the A^{'} coupling suggested by the dark-photon interpretation of the muon (g-2)_{μ} anomaly, as well as a broad range of parameters for the dark-sector models.
Dark sectors charged under a new Abelian interaction have recently received much attention in the context of dark matter models. These models introduce a light new mediator, the so-called dark photon ...(A^{'}), connecting the dark sector to the standard model. We present a search for a dark photon in the reaction e^{+}e^{-}→γA^{'}, A^{'}→e^{+}e^{-}, μ^{+}μ^{-} using 514 fb^{-1} of data collected with the BABAR detector. We observe no statistically significant deviations from the standard model predictions, and we set 90% confidence level upper limits on the mixing strength between the photon and dark photon at the level of 10^{-4}-10^{-3} for dark photon masses in the range 0.02-10.2 GeV. We further constrain the range of the parameter space favored by interpretations of the discrepancy between the calculated and measured anomalous magnetic moment of the muon.
A search for the flavor-changing neutral-current decay B+ →K+$ν\bar{ν}$ is performed at the Belle II experiment at the SuperKEKB asymmetric energy electron-positron collider. The data sample ...corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 63 fb-1 collected at the Υ (4S) resonance and a sample of 9 fb-1 collected at an energy 60 MeV below the resonance. Because the measurable decay signature involves only a single charged kaon, a novel measurement approach is used that exploits not only the properties of the B+ →K+$ν\bar{ν}$ decay, but also the inclusive properties of the other B meson in the Υ(4S) $B\bar{B}$ event, to suppress the background from other B meson decays and light-quark pair production. This inclusive tagging approach offers a higher signal efficiency compared to previous searches. No significant signal is observed. An upper limit on the branching fraction of B+ →K+$ν\bar{ν}$ of 4.1 × 10-5 is set at the 90% confidence level.
We search for the rare flavor-changing neutral current process B^{+}→K^{+}τ^{+}τ^{-} using data from the BABAR experiment. The data sample, collected at the center-of-mass energy of the ϒ(4S) ...resonance, corresponds to a total integrated luminosity of 424 fb^{-1} and to 471×10^{6} BBover ¯ pairs. We reconstruct one B meson, produced in the ϒ(4S)→B^{+}B^{-} decay, in one of many hadronic decay modes and search for activity compatible with a B^{+}→K^{+}τ^{+}τ^{-} decay in the rest of the event. Each τ lepton is required to decay leptonically into an electron or muon and neutrinos. Comparing the expected number of background events with the data sample after applying the selection criteria, we do not find evidence for a signal. The resulting upper limit, at the 90% confidence level, is B(B^{+}→K^{+}τ^{+}τ^{-})<2.25×10^{-3}.
We report a measurement of the D0 and D+ lifetimes using D0 → K-π+ and D+ → K-π+π+ decays reconstructed in e+e- → $c\bar{c}$ data recorded by the Belle II experiment at the SuperKEKB ...asymmetric-energy e+e- collider. The data, collected at center-of-mass energies at or near the Υ(4S) resonance, correspond to an integrated luminosity of 72 fb-1. The results, τ(D0) = 410.5 1.1 (stat) 0.8 (syst) fs and τ(D+) = 1030.4 4.7 (stat) 3.1 (syst) fs, are the most precise to dateand are consistent with previous determinations.
We report on a precision measurement of the ratio R_{τμ}^{ϒ(3S)}=B(ϒ(3S)→τ^{+}τ^{-})/B(ϒ(3S)→μ^{+}μ^{-}) using data collected with the BABAR detector at the SLAC PEP-II e^{+}e^{-} collider. The ...measurement is based on a 28 fb^{-1} data sample collected at a center-of-mass energy of 10.355 GeV corresponding to a sample of 122 million ϒ(3S) mesons. The ratio is measured to be R_{τμ}^{ϒ(3S)}=0.966±0.008_{stat}±0.014_{syst} and is in agreement with the standard model prediction of 0.9948 within 2 standard deviations. The uncertainty in R_{τμ}^{ϒ(3S)} is almost an order of magnitude smaller than the only previous measurement.
We search for lepton-flavor-violating τ^{-}→e^{-}α and τ^{-}→μ^{-}α decays, where α is an invisible spin-0 boson. The search uses electron-positron collisions at 10.58 GeV center-of-mass energy with ...an integrated luminosity of 62.8 fb^{-1}, produced by the SuperKEKB collider and collected with the Belle II detector. We search for an excess in the lepton-energy spectrum of the known τ^{-}→e^{-}νover ¯_{e}ν_{τ} and τ^{-}→μ^{-}νover ¯_{μ}ν_{τ} decays. We report 95% confidence-level upper limits on the branching-fraction ratio B(τ^{-}→e^{-}α)/B(τ^{-}→e^{-}νover ¯_{e}ν_{τ}) in the range (1.1-9.7)×10^{-3} and on B(τ^{-}→μ^{-}α)/B(τ^{-}→μ^{-}νover ¯_{μ}ν_{τ}) in the range (0.7-12.2)×10^{-3} for α masses between 0 and 1.6 GeV/c^{2}. These results provide the most stringent bounds on invisible boson production from τ decays.
We present the first measurement of the ratio of branching fractions of inclusive semileptonic $B$-meson decays, $R(X_{e/\mu}) = \mathcal{B}(B\to X \, e \, \nu) / \mathcal{B}(B\to X \, \mu \, \nu)$, ...a precision test of electron-muon universality, using data corresponding to $189\,\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ from electron-positron collisions collected with the Belle II detector. In events where the partner $B$ meson is fully reconstructed, we use fits to the lepton momentum spectra above $1.3\,\mathrm{GeV}/c$ to obtain $R(X_{e/\mu}) = 1.007 \pm 0.009~(\mathrm{stat}) \pm 0.019~(\mathrm{syst})$, which is the most precise lepton-universality test of its kind and agrees with the standard-model expectation.
We present a search for a neutral, long-lived particle L that is produced in e+ e- collisions and decays at a significant distance from the e+ e- interaction point into various flavor combinations of ...two oppositely charged tracks. The analysis uses an e+ e- data sample with a luminosity of 489.1 fb(-1) collected by the BABAR detector at the ϒ(4S), ϒ(3S), and ϒ(2S) resonances and just below the ϒ(4S). Fitting the two-track mass distribution in search of a signal peak, we do not observe a significant signal, and set 90% confidence level upper limits on the product of the L production cross section, branching fraction, and reconstruction efficiency for six possible two-body L decay modes as a function of the L mass. The efficiency is given for each final state as a function of the mass, lifetime, and transverse momentum of the candidate, allowing application of the upper limits to any production model. In addition, upper limits are provided on the branching fraction B(B→XsL), where Xs is a strange hadronic system.
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