Time-Independent Measurements of D0-D0bar Mixing and Relative Strong Phases Using Quantum Correlations

Abstract

Due to quantum correlations in the C=-1 and C=+1 D0 D0bar pairs produced in the reactions e+ e- --> D0 D0bar (n pi0) and e+ e- --> D0 D0bar gamma (n pi0), respectively, the time-integrated D0 D0bar decay rates are sensitive to interference between amplitudes for indistinguishable final states. The size of this interference is governed by the relevant amplitude ratios and can include contributions from D0-D0bar mixing. We present a method for simultaneously measuring the magnitudes and phases of these amplitude ratios and searching for D0-D0bar mixing. We make use of fully- and partially-reconstructed D0 D0bar pairs in both C eigenstates. Our method is insensitive to CP violation, and we estimate experimental sensitivities based on a plausible charm factory dataset. Similar analyses can be applied to coherent K0 K0bar, B0 B0bar, or Bs Bsbar pairs.