Observation of CP Violation in B± → DK± Decays

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xix

   PDF

2. Introduction

   • Paolo Gandini

   Pages 1-23

3. The LHCb Experiment at the LHC

   • Paolo Gandini

   Pages 25-53

4. Reconstruction and Selection

   • Paolo Gandini

   Pages 55-86

5. Background Studies

   • Paolo Gandini

   Pages 87-122

6. The Simultaneous Fit

   • Paolo Gandini

   Pages 123-139

7. Results

   • Paolo Gandini

   Pages 141-156

8. Conclusions

   • Paolo Gandini

   Pages 157-158

9. Back Matter

   Pages 159-167

   PDF

CP violation is a well-established phenomenon in particle physics, but until 2001 it was only observed in kaons. In the last decade, several matter-antimatter asymmetries have been observed in neutral B mesons in line with the expectations of the Standard Model of the weak interaction.  Direct CP violation is also expected in the decay rates of charged B+ mesons versus that of B- mesons, though the greatest effects are present in a decay that occurs just twice in 10 million decays. Such rarity requires huge samples to study and this is exactly what the LHC, and its dedicated B-physics experiment LHCb provide. This thesis presents an analysis of the first two years of LHCb data. The author describes the first observation of the rare decay, B- → DK-, D → π-K+ and the first observation of direct CP violation in this B decay. The work constitutes essential information on the experiment’s measurement of a fundamental parameter of the theory and stands as a benchmark against which subsequent analyses of this type will be compared.

• CKM Matrix
• Flavour Physics
• LHCb Experiment
• Matter-antimatter Asymmetry in B Mesons
• Rare B Meson Decays
• Standard Model of the Weak Interaction
• Tests of CP Violation

• Particle Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom

  Paolo Gandini

Paolo Gandini is a particle physicist mainly interested in Flavour Physics. As a member of the LHCb collaboration at CERN, he completed a D.Phil in Particle Physics at the University of Oxford with a thesis on CP violation studies in charged B decays. He is currently based at CERN as a postdoctoral researcher for Syracuse University, NY.

Policies and ethics