Accuracy of Measurement

Abstract

1 Problem This problem concerns the statistical analysis of data to determine an asymmetry parameter that arises in the CP -violating decays of the neutral B mesons to a final state that is a CP eigenstate. The B mesons are produced, for example, at an e + e − collider, or at a p¯ p collider (as is most relevant to the concerns of this problem), where there is an equal probability for production of B 0 and B 0 mesons. Presuming that you know whether the B meson was created as a B 0 and B 0 , the time dependence of number of decays to the final state of interest has the form N ± (t) = N 2 e −t (1 ± A sin xt), (1) where N is the total number of decays, +(−) labels decays in which the B meson was born as a B 0 (B 0), A is the unknown CP -violating parameter, x = ΔM/Γ is the known mixing parameter that desscribes the B 0 -B 0 oscillations, time t is measured in units of the B 0 -meson lifetime.