Searching for $B_c$ mesons in the ATLAS experiment at LHC

Abstract

We discuss the feasibility of the observation of the signal from $B_c$ mesons in the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. In particular, we address the decay mode $B_c{\rightarrow}J/\psi \pi$ followed by the leptonic decay $J/\psi{\rightarrow}\mu^+\mu^-$, which should permit an accurate measurement of the $B_c$ mass. We performed a Monte Carlo study of the signal and background concluding that a precision of $\approx$ 1 MeV for the $B_c$ mass could be achieved after one year of running at $\lq\lq$low" luminosity. The semileptonic decay $B_c{\rightarrow}J/\psi\ {\mu}^+{\nu}_{\mu}$ is also considered for a possible extraction of ${\mid}V_{cb}{\mid}$.