Observation of the very rare $\Sigma^+ \to p \mu^+ \mu^-$ decay

Abstract

The first observation of the $\Sigma^+ \to p \mu^+ \mu^-$ decay is reported with high significance using proton-proton collision data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $5.4\,\rm{fb}^{-1}$, collected with the LHCb detector at a centre-of-mass energy of 13~TeV. A yield of $237\pm 16$ $\Sigma^+ \to p \mu^+ \mu^-$ decays is obtained, where the uncertainty is statistical only. A branching fraction of $(1.08 \pm 0.17) \times 10^{-8}$ is measured, where the uncertainty includes statistical and systematic sources. No evidence of resonant structures is found in the dimuon invariant-mass distribution. All results are compatible with Standard Model expectations. This represents the rarest decay of a baryon ever observed.