Differential decay rate of B+→ J/ψK+ with the LHCb Upgrade I experiment

Abstract

The normalised decay rate of B+ → J/ψ(→ μ+μ−)K+ is measured as a function of the lepton helicity angle using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.1 fb−1 collected during October 2024 with the upgraded (Upgrade I) LHCb detector. This angular distribution can be parameterised by two coefficients, the forward-backward asymmetry, AFB, and the flatness parameter, FH, whose values are constrained by conservation of angular momentum. These coefficients are measured both integrated and differentially across various kinematic and detector-response variables, and the results are found to be in good agreement with expectations. These measurements show that the detector response of the LHCb Upgrade I experiment is understood to the precision required to reliably extract the angular coefficients associated with rare b → sμ+μ− and b → dμ+μ− transitions, which are particularly sensitive to physics beyond the Standard Model.