Search for New Decays of B Mesons to Charmed Baryons

Abstract: I search for the Standard Model (SM) decays B0bar -> Lambdabar Omegac and B0bar -> Lambdabar Omegac(2770), and Beyond the Standard Model (BSM) decays B0bar -> Lambdabar Omegacbar and B0bar -> Lambdabar Omegacbar(2770) using the full Belle data sample of 711 inverse femtobarns that contains 772 million BBbar pairs collected at the Y(4S) resonance with the Belle detector at KEKB asymmetric-energy electron-positron collider. The former two non-factorizable W-emission decays are suppressed in the SM, could be used to understand the predictions of QCD-inspired models and, when discovered, would become a useful tool to search for baryon-antibaryon oscillations, therefore helping to explain matter-antimatter asymmetry. The observation of the latter two final states would either indicate an SM decay followed by baryon-antibaryon oscillations or be the result of a direct BSM transition. I report on the current status of my studies and discovery prospects.

Research Advisor: Vladimir Savinov, PhD

The Bachelor of Philosophy is a degree awarded jointly by Pitt'sHonors College and the Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences.