Measurements of the branching fractions of $Λ_c^+\toΛK^+ π^0$ and $Λ_c^+\toΛK^+ η$ decays at Belle and Belle II

Abstract

We present a study of the three-body, singly Cabibbo-suppressed decays $Λ_c^+ \to ΛK^+ π^0$ and $Λ_c^+ \to ΛK^+ η$ using data recorded with the Belle and Belle II detectors at the KEKB and SuperKEKB $e^+ e^-$ colliders. The data samples correspond to integrated luminosities of 980$\,\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ and 570$\,\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$, respectively. We measure their branching-fraction ratios relative to the Cabibbo-favored decay $Λ_c^+ \to Λπ^+ π^0$ as $\mathcal{B}(Λ_c^+ \to ΛK^+ π^0)/\mathcal{B}(Λ_c^+ \to Λπ^+ π^0)=(1.82 \pm 0.07 \pm 0.07)\%$, with significantly improved precision compared to the previous measurement, and $\mathcal{B}(Λ_c^+ \to ΛK^+ η)/\mathcal{B}(Λ_c^+ \to Λπ^+ π^0)=(8.73 \pm 0.35 \pm 0.43)\times10^{-3}$, corresponding to the first observation of the $Λ_c^+ \to ΛK^+ η$ decay with a statistical significance exceeding 10 standard deviations. The first and second uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively. Using the world-average value of the branching fraction for $Λ_c^+ \to Λπ^+ π^0$, we obtain the branching fractions $\mathcal{B}(Λ_c^+ \to ΛK^+ π^0)=(1.29\pm 0.05\pm 0.05\pm 0.06)\times10^{-3}$ and $\mathcal{B}(Λ_c^+ \to ΛK^+ η)=(6.20\pm 0.25\pm 0.31\pm 0.30)\times10^{-4}$, where the third uncertainty arises from the uncertainty in the world-average value of $\mathcal{B}(Λ_c^+ \to Λπ^+ π^0)$. The measured $\mathcal{B}(Λ_c^+\toΛK^+η)$ is significantly larger than predictions based on $SU(3)$ flavor symmetry.