Model-independent observation of exotic contributions to $B^0\to J/ψK^+π^-$ decays
hep-ex
/ Authors
LHCb collaboration, R. Aaij, C. Abellán Beteta, B. Adeva, M. Adinolfi, C. A. Aidala, Z. Ajaltouni, S. Akar, P. Albicocco, J. Albrecht
and 836 more authors
F. Alessio, M. Alexander, A. Alfonso Albero, G. Alkhazov, P. Alvarez Cartelle, A. A. Alves, S. Amato, S. Amerio, Y. Amhis, L. An, L. Anderlini, G. Andreassi, M. Andreotti, J. E. Andrews, F. Archilli, P. d'Argent, J. Arnau Romeu, A. Artamonov, M. Artuso, K. Arzymatov, E. Aslanides, M. Atzeni, B. Audurier, S. Bachmann
/ Abstract
An angular analysis of $B^0\to J/ψK^+π^-$ decays is performed, using proton-proton collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3~${\rm fb}^{-1}$ collected with the LHCb detector. The $m(K^+π^-)$ spectrum is divided into fine bins. In each $m(K^+π^-)$ bin, the hypothesis that the three-dimensional angular distribution can be described by structures induced only by $K^\ast$ resonances is examined, making minimal assumptions about the $K^+π^-$ system. The data reject the $K^\ast$-only hypothesis with a large significance, implying the observation of exotic contributions in a model-independent fashion. Inspection of the $m(J/ψπ^-)$ versus $m(K^+π^-)$ plane suggests structures near $m(J/ψπ^-)=4200$~MeV and 4600~MeV.