Study of $B\to \psi (2S)K$ and $B\to \psi (2S)K^{*}$(892) Decays

Abstract

Color-suppressed decays of $B$ mesons to final states with $\psi(2S)$ mesons have been observed with the CLEO detector. The branching fractions for the decays $B^+ \to \psi(2S) K^+$, $B^+ \to \psi(2S) K^*(892)^+$, $B^0 \to \psi(2S) K^0$, and $B^0 \to \psi(2S) K^*(892)^0$ are measured to be (7.8 +- 0.7 +- 0.9) 10^{-4}$, (9.2 +- 1.9 +- 1.2) 10^{-4}$, (5.0 +- 1.1 +- 0.6) 10^{-4}$, and (7.6 +- 1.1 +- 1.0) 10^{-4}$, respectively, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic. The first measurement of the longitudinal polarization fraction is extracted from the angular analysis of the $B \to \psi(2S) K^*(892)$ candidates: $\Gamma_L / \Gamma = 0.45 +- 0.11 +- 0.04 $. Our measurements of the decays $B^0 \to \psi(2S) K^0$ and $B^+ \to \psi(2S) K^*(892)^+$ are first observations.