Study of the rare decays of B s 0 and B 0 mesons into muon pairs using data collected during 2015 and 2016 with the ATLAS detector
A study of the decays B s 0 → μ + μ – and B 0 → μ + μ – has been performed using 26.3 fb –1 of 13 TeV LHC proton-proton collision data collected with the ATLAS detector in 2015 and 2016. Since the detector resolution in μ + μ – invariant mass is comparable to the B s 0 -B 0 mass difference, a single fit determines the signal yields for both decay modes. This results in a measurement of the branching fraction B(B s 0 → μ + μ – ) = (3.2 +1.1 –1.0 ) × 10 –9 and an upper limit B(B 0 → μ + μ – ) < 4.3×10 –10 at 95% confidence level. The result is combined with the Run 1 ATLAS result, yielding B(B s 0 → μ + μ – ) = (2.8 +0.8 –0.7 ) × 10 –9 and B(B 0 → μ + μ – ) < 2.1 × 10 –10 at 95% confidence level. The combined result is consistent with the Standard Model prediction within 2.4 standard deviations in the B(B 0 → μ + μ – ) – B(B 0 s → μ + μ – ) plane.