Observation of High Momentum $\eta'$ Production in B Decay

Abstract

We report the first observation of $B\to \eta' X$ transitions with high momentum $\eta'$ mesons. We observe $39.0\pm 11.6$ B decay events with $2.0< p_{\eta'} < 2.7$ GeV/c, the high momentum region where background from $b\to c$ processes is suppressed. We discuss the physical interpretation of the signal, including the possibility that it is due to $b\to s g^*$ transitions. Given that interpretation, we find ${\cal B}(B\to \eta' X_s) = (6.2 \pm 1.6(stat) \pm 1.3(sys)^{+0.0}_{-1.5}(bkg))\times 10^{-4} $ for $2.0<p_{\eta'}<2.7$ GeV/c.