Search for B+ c decays to the pp‾π+ final state

Abstract A search for the decays of the B c + meson to p p ¯ π + is performed for the first time using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.0 fb − 1 collected by the LHCb experiment in pp collisions at centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV. No signal is found and an upper limit, at 95% confidence level, is set, f c f u × B ( B c + → p p ‾ π + ) 3.6 × 10 − 8 in the kinematic region m ( p p ‾ ) 2.85 GeV / c 2 , p T ( B ) 20 GeV / c and 2.0 y ( B ) 4.5 , where B is the branching fraction and f c ( f u ) is the fragmentation fraction of the b quark into a B c + ( B + ) meson.