Inclusive b Decays to Wrong Sign Charmed Mesons

Abstract

The production of wrong sign charmed mesons b -> \bar D_{(s)} X, D_{(s)}=(D0,D+,D_s), is studied using the data collected by the DELPHI experiment in the years 1994 and 1995. Charmed mesons in Z -> b bbar events are exclusively reconstructed by searching for the decays D0 -> K- pi+, D+ -> K- pi+ pi+ and D_s^+ -> phi pi+ -> K+ K- pi+. The wrong sign contribution is extracted by using two discriminant variables: the charge of the b-quark at decay time, estimated from the charges of identified particles, and the momentum of the charmed meson in the rest frame of the b-hadron. The inclusive branching fractions of b-hadrons into wrong sign charm mesons are measured to be: Br(b -> \bar D0 X) + Br(b -> D- X) = (9.3 +/- 1.7(stat) +/- 1.3(syst) +/- 0.4(Br))%, Br(b -> D_s^- X) = (10.1 +/- 1.0(stat) +/- 0.6(syst) +/- 2.8(Br))% where the first error is statistical, the second and third errors are systematic.