Measurements of the CKM angle γ at the LHCb experiment

Thesis

Two measurements of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa angle γ using B → DK and B⁰ → DK^*0 decays are presented in this thesis. The subsequent D meson decays to the K_S⁰π⁺π⁻ and K_S⁰K⁺K⁻ final states are studied using a binned Dalitz plot analysis. The D strong-phase variation over the Dalitz plot is taken from measurements performed at the CLEO-c experiment, making the analysis independent of a model to describe the D decay amplitude. Both measurements are performed using proton-proton collision data collected by the Large Hadron Collider beauty (LHCb) experiment in 2011 and 2012, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3 fb⁻¹ at centre-of-mass energies √s = 7 TeV and 8 TeV. The value γ= (62 ⁺¹⁵₋₁₄)° is measured using B⁰ → DK^*0 decays and γ = (71 ± 20)° is measured using B⁰ → DK^*0 decays, with a second solution for each value corresponding to γ + 180°. The measurements are consistent with the world average value of γ.

Authors: Cheung, S

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-gay9egrky
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: B physics; CP violation; CKM matrix; Large Hadron Collider
• Subjects: Particle Physics