Observation of the $$ {B}_s^0 $$ → D*+D*− decay

Abstract The first observation of the $$ {B}_s^0 $$ B s 0 → D∗+D∗− decay and the measurement of its branching ratio relative to the B0→ D∗+D∗− decay are presented. The data sample used corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 9 fb−1 of proton-proton collisions recorded by the LHCb experiment at centre-of-mass energies of 7, 8 and 13 TeV between 2011 and 2018. The decay is observed with more than 10 standard deviations and the time-integrated ratio of branching fractions is determined to be$$ \frac{\mathcal{B}\left({B}_s^0\to {D}^{\ast +}{D}^{\ast -}\right)}{\mathcal{B}\left({B}^0\to {D}^{\ast +}{D}^{\ast -}\right)}=0.269\pm 0.032\pm 0.011\pm 0.008, $$ B B s 0 → D ∗ + D ∗ − B B 0 → D ∗ + D ∗ − = 0.269 ± 0.032 ± 0.011 ± 0.008 , where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second systematic and the third due to the uncertainty of the fragmentation fraction ratio fs/fd. The $$ {B}_s^0 $$ B s 0 → D*+D*− branching fraction is calculated to be$$ \mathcal{B}\left({B}_s^0\to {D}^{\ast +}{D}^{\ast -}\right)=\left(2.15\pm 0.26\pm 0.09\pm 0.06\pm 0.16\right)\times {10}^{-4}, $$ B B s 0 → D ∗ + D ∗ − = 2.15 ± 0.26 ± 0.09 ± 0.06 ± 0.16 × 10 − 4 , where the fourth uncertainty is due to the B0→ D*+D*− branching fraction. These results are calculated using the average $$ {B}_s^0 $$ B s 0 meson lifetime in simulation. Correction factors are reported for scenarios where either a purely heavy or a purely light $$ {B}_s^0 $$ B s 0 eigenstate is considered.