Angular analysis of charged and neutral $B \to K \mu^+\mu^-$ decays

Abstract

The angular distributions of the rare decays $B^+ \to K^+\mu^+\mu^-$ and $B^0 \to K^0_{\rm\scriptscriptstyle S}\mu^+\mu^-$ are studied with data corresponding to 3$~$fb$^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity, collected in proton-proton collisions at 7 and 8$~$TeV centre-of-mass energies with the LHCb detector. The angular distribution is described by two parameters, $F_{\rm H}$ and the forward-backward asymmetry of the dimuon system $A_{\rm FB}$, which are determined in bins of the dimuon mass squared. The parameter $F_{\rm H}$ is a measure of the contribution from (pseudo)scalar and tensor amplitudes to the decay width. The measurements of $A_{\rm FB}$ and $F_{\rm H}$ reported here are the most precise to date and are compatible with predictions from the Standard Model.