Observation of Cabibbo suppressed $B \to D^{(*)}K^-$ decays at Belle

Abstract

Cabibbo-suppressed decays $B \to D^{(*)} K^-$ using a 10.4 fb$^{-1}$ data sample accumulated at the $\Upsilon(4S)$ resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB $e^+ e^-$ storage ring. The high-momentum particle identification system of Belle is used to isolate signals for $B\to D^0 K^-$, $D^+K^-$, $D^{*0}K^-$ and $D^{*+}K^-$ from the $B\to D^{(*)}\pi^-$ decay processes which have much larger branching fractions. We report ratios of Cabibbo-suppressed to Cabibbo-favored branching fractions of: ${\cal B}(B^- \to D^0 K^-)/{\cal B}(B^- \to D^0\pi^-) = 0.079\pm0.009\pm0.006$; ${\cal B}(\bar{B^0} \to D^+ K^-)/{\cal B}(\bar{B^0} \to D^+\pi^-) = 0.068\pm0.015\pm0.007$; ${\cal B}(B^-\to D^{*0}K^-)/{\cal B}(B^-\to D^{*0}\pi^-) = 0.078 \pm 0.019 \pm 0.009$; and ${\cal B}(\bar{B}^0\to D^{*+}K^-)/{\cal B}(\bar{B}^0\to D^{*+}\pi^-)= 0.074 \pm 0.015 \pm 0.006$. The first error is statistical and the second is systematic. These are the first reported observations of the $B\to D^+K^-$, $D^{*0}K^-$ and $D^{*+}K^-$ decay processes.