Amplitude Analysis of the D+ -> K+ K- pi+ decay

• Grant number: 24/15576-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate (Direct)
• Start date: March 01, 2025
• End date: July 31, 2029
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics - Elementary Particle Physics and Fields
• Principal Investigator: Patrícia Camargo Magalhães
• Grantee: Felipe Cesário Laterza Lopes
• Host Institution: Instituto de Física Gleb Wataghin (IFGW). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 20/04867-2 - High energy physics and instrumentation with the LHC-CERN, AP.ESP

Abstract

The amplitude of the Cabibbo suppressed decay of the $D^+$ meson to the final state $K^{-} K^{+} \pi^{+}$ is of great physical interest, and is expected to be source of CP violation and potentially new physics. The present research project seeks to analyse recent data of the Large Hadron Collider beauty (LHCb) experiment at CERN, with a precise theoretical model capable of revealing CP violation mechanisms and of describing the complex dynamics of this decay. CP Violation is an interference phenomenon between the phase of the weak interaction, a consequence of the c quark`s flavor change, with the strong phase of the hadronic interactions between mesons in the final state. On the other hand, the final state interactions are dominated by two-body resonances, such as $\phi(1020)$ and $K^{*0}(892)$, but can also have non-resonant contributions and three-body effects. To reveal the dynamics of these contributions to the final state, an amplitude analysis is essential. Previous analyses of the $D^+\rightarrow K^- K^+\pi^+$ decay reported by collaborations such as CLEO, BaBar and LHCb itself, were unable to satisfactorily describe the data using the isobar model, which is limited to a sum of resonances described as Breit-Wigner functions. Currently, the LHCb has a previously unseen sample of charmed meson decays, with around 50 million events for the $D^+\rightarrow K^- K^+\pi^+$ decay. An excellent opportunity to test more complex and realistic models that include hadronic final state interactions and capable of revealing the presence of CP violation.