Studies of rare B-meson decays to muons at the LHCb experiment
View / Open Files
Authors
Williams, Ifan
Advisors
Gibson, Valerie
Date
2022-01-01Awarding Institution
University of Cambridge
Qualification
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Type
Thesis
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Williams, I. (2022). Studies of rare B-meson decays to muons at the LHCb experiment (Doctoral thesis). https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.83897
Abstract
In this dissertation, very rare decays of B-mesons to purely muonic final states, both dimuon and four-muon, are studied at the LHCb experiment using data recorded during the first and second data-taking periods of the Large Hadron Collider, spanning the years 2011–2012 and 2015–2018, respectively. LHCb is a specialised experiment dedicated to the study of b- and c-hadrons produced in high energy proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider. This is in order to test the predictions of the Standard Model of particle physics, search for indirect evidence for new physics beyond the Standard Model and search for new sources of CP violation. The studies documented in this dissertation are performed using proton-proton collision data, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 1.11, 2.08 and 5.90 fb−1 taken at centre-of-mass energies √s = 7,8 and 13 TeV, respectively. The Bs → μ+μ− effective lifetime is measured to be τ = 2.07 ± 0.29 ± 0.03 ps, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic. Searches for B-meson decays to the final state μ+μ−μ+μ− are also performed, where both direct decays and decays via light scalar and J/ψ resonances are considered. No evidence is found for any of the six decays searched for and upper limits are set on their branching fractions at 95% confidence level, ranging between 2.6 × 10−9 and 1.8 × 10−10. All results are consistent with the predictions of the Standard Model.
Keywords
High-Energy Physics, Particle Physics, Data-Intensive Science, Physics, Experimental Physics, B Physics, Rare Decays
Sponsorship
STFC (2025427)
Science and Technology Facilities Council (2025427)
Identifiers
This record's DOI: https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.83897
Statistics
Total file downloads (since January 2020). For more information on metrics see the
IRUS guide.
Recommended or similar items
The current recommendation prototype on the Apollo Repository will be turned off on 03 February 2023. Although the pilot has been fruitful for both parties, the service provider IKVA is focusing on horizon scanning products and so the recommender service can no longer be supported. We recognise the importance of recommender services in supporting research discovery and are evaluating offerings from other service providers. If you would like to offer feedback on this decision please contact us on: support@repository.cam.ac.uk