Thesis, Slac-R-729
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
SLAC-R-729 Observation of CP Violation in the Neutral B Meson System* Stephen Levy Stanford Linear Accelerator Center Stanford University Stanford, CA 94309 SLAC-Report-729 Prepared for the Department of Energy under contract number DE-AC03-76SF00515 Printed in the United States of America. Available from the National Technical Information Service, U.S. Department of Commerce, 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, VA 22161. * Ph.D. Thesis, University of California, Santa Barbara UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA Santa Barbara Observation of CP Violation in the Neutral B Meson System A Dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Physics by Stephen Levy Committee in charge: Professor Claudio Campagnari, Chair Professor Harry Nelson Professor Robert Sugar September 2003 The dissertation of Stephen Levy is approved: Chair September 2003 This dissertation is dedicated to my mom and dad for their unfailing support these last 28 years. All my love. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Throughout my study of physics, I have had the good fortune to be guided and encouraged by many excellent teachers to whom I owe a debt of gratitude. I would like to thank Mr. Berryann for opening my eyes to the world of physics; Dr. Gilfoyle for inspiring me to become a physicist; and Dr. Rubin for demonstrating the integrity required to fulfill that goal. Most importantly, I’d like to thank my adviser Claudio Campagnari for teaching me what it means to be a physicist. His wisdom and assistance have been invaluable. There were days and late nights when the pressure of producing a timely sin2β result (you mean we’re publishing again)was intense. But the spirits of the “sin2β crew” were always cheerful and they were a fantastic group to work with. Thanks to Riccardo, David, Fernando, and S¨oeren. Special thanks to Owen and Wouter for taking so much time to teach me and for never tiring of my questions. And also to Shahram for his dual role of co-worker and friend. Also thanks to my many officemates through the years, Kevin, Bryan, Na- talia, and most recently Adam and Tae, for putting up with my voluminous insane ravings. I have had some great friends and roommates during my graduate school years, which began with Brookie breaking and entering and ended with him egg-kicking (they can’t be cracked if you squeeze from the poles, I swear). I am especially grateful to have mastered his elegant polytheistic theory of religious begging. The days at Quinientos with Hilah, (begin deep Southern accent) Hemingway (end accent), and Pandora were unforgettable (Feb. 14 Day cat omission was not an oversight). As was my initiation to the world of Mudders provided by fresh Doug F. (on the steel horse I ride). Lots of fun times with J. Murray in the ghetto (man, your room is cold). And too many good memories of Courtney C. during the SF years (dummy seeking to be what?). The La Bamba (ZZZ) girls, L.S. and T.I., have made the final stretch an adventure even if their house escapes the glorious egging crescendo I’ve predicted lo these iv many months. Grandma Levy and Grandma Roy provided me with excellent modes of transportation and much love for which I am extremely thankful. Finally, I must thank my parents. The love and support they have pro- vided has allowed me to pursue my dreams. For this I will be forever grateful. Their faith in me has remained unshakable despite some infamous incidents in my youth (think mailbox) and that faith has kept me steady through darker moments than I’ve admitted to. They remain always in my heart. v Curriculum Vitæ Stephen Levy Education Doctor of Philosophy in Physics, University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB), California, June 2003 (expected) Bachelor of Science in Physics and Math, University of Richmond (UR), Richmond, VA, May 1997 (Magna cum laude) Professional Employment UCSB Research Assistant, Member of BABAR collaboration at the Stan- ford Linear Accelerator Center (Summer 1998-Present) UCSB Teaching Assistant, Graduate Particle Physics (Fall 2002-Winter 2002) UCSB Teaching Assistant, Physics for Majors (Winter 1999-Spring 2000) Primary Publications B. Aubert et al. [BABAR Collaboration], “Measurement of the CP-violating asymmetry amplitude sin 2beta,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 201802 (2002). B. Aubert et al. [BABAR Collaboration], “A study of time dependent CP-violating asymmetries and flavor oscillations in neutral B decays at the Upsilon(4S),” Phys. Rev. D 66, 032003 (2002). B. Aubert et al. [BABAR Collaboration], “Observation of CP violation in the B0 meson system,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 091801 (2001). B. Aubert et al. [BABAR Collaboration], “Measurement of CP violating asymmetries in B0 decays to CP eigenstates,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 2515 (2001). G. P. Gilfoyle, S. Levy, and M. Mestayer, “Spatial resolution of the nose cone prototype drift chamber”, CLAS-Note-96-009 (1997). vi Awards GANN Fellowship recipient, UCSB (1998) Phi Beta Kappa, UR (1997) R. Loving Award, most promising graduating physics major, UR (1997) Sigma Xi, scientific research society (1997) Pi Mu Epsilon, mathematics honor society (1996) Sigma Pi Sigma, physics honor society (1996) National Merit Finalist, UR (1993) Varsity Tennis Scholarship, UR (1993) vii Abstract Observation of CP Violation in the Neutral B Meson System by Stephen Levy This dissertation presents a measurement of time-dependent CP -violating asym- metries in neutral B meson decays collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy B Factory at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Cen- ter. The data sample consists of about 88 million Υ (4S) → BB decays collected between 1999 and 2002. We study events in which one neutral B meson decay to 0 0 0 0 the CP -eigenstates J/ψ K S , ψ(2S)KS , χc1KS ,andηcKS , or to flavor-eigenstates (∗) ∗0 ∗0 + − involving D π/ρ/a1 and J/ψ K (K → K π ), is fully reconstructed. The flavor of the other neutral B meson is tagged at the time of its decay, mainly using the charge of identified leptons and kaons. The proper time elapsed between the meson decays is determined by measuring the distance between the decay vertices. The amplitude of the CP -violating asymmetry, which in the Standard Model is proportional to sin2β, is determined from a simultane- ous maximum-likelihood fit to the time-difference distribution of the flavor- and CP -eigenstate samples. We measure sin2β =0.755±0.074 (stat)±0.030 (syst). viii Contents List of Figures xiv List of Tables xviii 1 CP violation in the Standard Model 1 1.1TheStandardModel........................ 3 1.2Parity,chargeconjugation,andtimereversal........... 5 1.3 CP violationandcosmology.................... 6 1.4 Discovery of CP violation..................... 8 1.4.1 Experimental confirmation of CP violation........ 9 1.4.2 Theoretical model for CP violation............ 10 1.5TheCKMmatrix.......................... 11 1.5.1 Higgsmechanismorigin.................. 11 1.5.2 Parametercounting..................... 13 1.5.3 CKMparameterization................... 14 1.5.4 Unitaritytriangle...................... 15 1.6 Manifestations of CP violation................... 17 1.6.1 CP violationindecay.................... 18 1.6.2 Mixingofneutralmesons.................. 19 1.6.3 CP violationinmixing................... 22 1.6.4 Timeevolutionofneutralmesons............. 22 1.6.5 Mixing phenomenology in the B0 system......... 23 1.6.6 CP violationinmixinganddecay............. 26 0 → 0 1.7 The golden decay B J/ψ K S .................. 29 1.7.1 Evaluating λ 0 ...................... 29 J/ψ KS 1.8 Measuring CP violation at BABAR ................ 33 1.8.1 Coherent B meson production at the Υ (4S) ....... 33 1.8.2 Experimentalchallenges.................. 35 1.9Constraintsontheunitaritytriangle............... 37 1.10 Previous measurements of sin2β .................. 41 ix 2TheBABAR detector 43 2.1 PEP-II ................................ 43 2.2 BABAR detectoroverview..................... 50 2.3 Silicon vertex tracker ........................ 53 2.3.1 SVTgeometry........................ 53 2.3.2 Silicon sensors ........................ 56 2.3.3 Frontendelectronics.................... 57 2.3.4 Alignment.......................... 58 2.3.5 Performance......................... 60 2.4Driftchamber(DCH)........................ 61 2.4.1 DCHdesign......................... 62 2.4.2 DCHperformance...................... 64 2.5 Detector of internally reflected Cherenkov light (DIRC) . 66 2.5.1 DIRCgeometry....................... 67 2.5.2 DIRCperformance..................... 68 2.6Electromagneticcalorimeter(EMC)................ 69 2.6.1 EMClayout......................... 69 2.6.2 EMCperformance..................... 71 2.7Instrumentedfluxreturn(IFR).................. 75 2.7.1 IFRoverview........................ 75 2.7.2 IFRperformance...................... 76 3 Analysis overview 79 3.1Analysisoutline........................... 82 3.2 Additional CP modes........................ 82 4 Reconstruction of B mesons 85 4.1Trackandneutralreconstruction................. 86 4.2Particleidentification........................ 87 4.2.1 Chargedleptonidentification............... 88 4.2.2 Kaonidentification..................... 90 4.2.3 Eventselection....................... 92 4.3Reconstructionofdecaydaughters................. 94 4.3.1 Selection of π0 mesons................... 95 0 4.3.2 Selection of KS mesons................... 95 + ∗0 4.3.3 Selection of ρ, a1 ,andK mesons............ 96 4.3.4 Charmoniummesonselection............... 96 4.3.5 Charmedmesonselection..................102 4.4 B mesonreconstruction......................104 4.4.1 Helicitydefinition......................106