Measurement of the Bs(0)→μ+ μ- branching fraction and search for B(0)→μ+ μ- decays at the LHCb experiment

Phys Rev Lett. 2013 Sep 6;111(10):101805. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.101805. Epub 2013 Sep 5.

Abstract

A search for the rare decays Bs(0)→μ+ μ- and B(0)→μ+ μ- is performed at the LHCb experiment. The data analyzed correspond to an integrated luminosity of 1 fb(-1) of pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV and 2 fb(-1) at 8 TeV. An excess of Bs(0)→μ+ μ- signal candidates with respect to the background expectation is seen with a significance of 4.0 standard deviations. A time-integrated branching fraction of B(Bs(0)→μ+ μ-)=(2.9(-1.0)(+1.1))×10(-9) is obtained and an upper limit of B(B(0)→μ+ μ-)<7.4×10(-10) at 95% confidence level is set. These results are consistent with the standard model expectations.