Observation of B-c mesons in p(p)over-bar collisions at root s=1.8 TeV

We report the observation of bottom-charmed mesons B-c in 1.8 TeV <p(p)over bar> collisions using the CDF detector at the Fermilab Tevatron. The B-c mesons were found through their semileptonic decays, B-c(+/-) --> J/psi l(+/-)X. A fit to the J/psi l mass distribution yielded 20.4(-5.5)(+6.2) events from B-c mesons. A test of the null hypothesis, i.e., an attempt to fit the data with background alone, was rejected at the level of 4.8 standard deviations. By studying the quality of the fit as a function of the assumed B-c mass, we determined M(B-c) = 6.40 +/- 0.39 (stat.)+/-0.13 (syst) GeV/c(2). From the distribution of trilepton intersection points in the plane transverse to the beam direction we measured the B-c lifetime to be tau(B-c) = 0.46(-0.16)(+0.18) (stat)+/-0.03 (syst) ps. We also measured the ratio of production cross section times branching fraction for Bc+ --> J/psi l(+) nu relative to that for B+ --> J/psi K+ to be sigma(B-c) X B(B-c --> J/psi l nu)/sigma(B) X B(B-->J/psi K) = 0.132(-0.037)(+0.041) (stat)+/-0.031 (syst)(-0.020)(+0.032)(lifetime). [S0556-2821(98)01421-0].