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First Evidence for Direct 𝐶𝑃 Violation in Beauty to Charmonium Decays
The 𝐶𝑃 asymmetry and branching fraction of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa-suppressed decay 𝐵+ →𝐽/𝜓𝜋+ are precisely measured relative to the favored decay 𝐵+ →𝐽/𝜓𝐾+ using a sample of proton-proton collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.4 fb−1 recorded at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV during 2016–2018. The results of the 𝐶𝑃 asymmetry difference and branching fraction ratio are Δ𝒜𝐶𝑃≡𝒜𝐶𝑃(𝐵+→𝐽/𝜓𝜋+)−𝒜𝐶𝑃(𝐵+→𝐽/𝜓𝐾+)=(1.29±0.49±0.08)×10−2, ℛ𝜋/𝐾≡[ℬ(𝐵+→𝐽/𝜓𝜋+)/ℬ(𝐵+→𝐽/𝜓𝐾+)]=(3.852±0.022±0.018)×10−2, where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second are systematic. A combination with previous LHCb results based on data collected at 7 and 8 TeV in 2011 and 2012 yields Δ𝒜𝐶𝑃 =(1.42 ±0.43 ±0.08) ×10−2 and ℛ𝜋/𝐾 =(3.846 ±0.018 ±0.018) ×10−2. The combined Δ𝒜𝐶𝑃 value deviates from zero by 3.2 standard deviations, providing the first evidence for direct 𝐶𝑃 violation in the amplitudes of beauty decays to charmonium final states.