Search for the rare decay B⁰_s→φμ⁺μ^- with the D0 detector

Abstract

We present a search for the flavor-changing neutral current decay B_s⁰ → φ μ⁺μ^- using about 0.45 fb^-1 of data collected in pp¯ collisions at √s = 1.96 TeV with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. We find an upper limit on the branching ratio of this decay normalized to B_s⁰→ J/ψφ of B(B_s⁰→φ μ⁺μ^-)/B(B_s⁰→J/ψ φ )<4.4 × 10^-3 at the 95% C.L. Using the central value of the world average branching fraction of B_s⁰ → J/ ψ φ , the limit corresponds to B(B_s⁰→φμ⁺μ^-) < 4.1 × 10^-6 at the 95% C.L., the most stringent upper bound to date.