Measurement of the Forward-Backward Asymmetry in the Production of B+ Mesons in p p-bar Collisions

dc.contributor.advisorCorcoran, Marjorie Den_US
dc.contributor.committeeMemberGeurts, Franken_US
dc.contributor.committeeMemberSemmes, Stephenen_US
dc.creatorHogan, Julie Men_US
dc.date.accessioned2016-01-25T21:56:23Zen_US
dc.date.available2016-01-25T21:56:23Zen_US
dc.date.created2015-05en_US
dc.date.issued2015-02-06en_US
dc.date.submittedMay 2015en_US
dc.date.updated2016-01-25T21:56:24Zen_US
dc.description.abstractWe present a measurement of the forward-backward asymmetry in the production of B+ mesons, A_FB(B+), using B+ -> J/psi K+ decays in 10.4 inverse femtobarns of p p-bar collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV collected by the D0 experiment during Run II of the Tevatron collider. A nonzero asymmetry would indicate a preference for a particular flavor, i.e., b quark or b-bar antiquark, to be produced in the direction of the proton beam. We extract A_FB(B+) from a maximum likelihood fit to the difference between the numbers of forward- and backward-produced B+ mesons, using a boosted decision tree to reduce background. Corrections are made for reconstruction asymmetries of the decay products. We measure an asymmetry consistent with zero: A_FB(B+) = [-0.24 +/- 0.41(stat) +/- 0.19(syst)]%. The standard model estimate from next-to-leading-order Monte Carlo is A_FB(B+) = [2.31 +/- 0.34(stat.) +/- 0.51(syst.)]%. There is a difference of approximately 3 standard deviations between this prediction and our result, which suggests that more rigorous determination of the standard model prediction is needed to interpret these results.en_US
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen_US
dc.identifier.citationHogan, Julie M. "Measurement of the Forward-Backward Asymmetry in the Production of B+ Mesons in p p-bar Collisions." (2015) Diss., Rice University. <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1911/88127">https://hdl.handle.net/1911/88127</a>.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/88127en_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.rightsCopyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.en_US
dc.subjectparticle physicsen_US
dc.subjectforward-backward asymmetryen_US
dc.subjectb quarken_US
dc.subjectB mesonen_US
dc.titleMeasurement of the Forward-Backward Asymmetry in the Production of B+ Mesons in p p-bar Collisionsen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
dc.type.materialTexten_US
thesis.degree.departmentPhysics and Astronomyen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineNatural Sciencesen_US
thesis.degree.grantorRice Universityen_US
thesis.degree.levelDoctoralen_US
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophyen_US
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