A high statistics measurement of the Λ c + Lifetime

A high statistics measurement of the Λ + c lifetime from the Fermilab fixed-target FOCUS photoproduction experiment is presented. We describe the analysis technique with particular attention to the determination of the systematic uncertainty. The measured value of 204.6 ′ 3.4 (stat) ′ 2.5 (syst) fs from 8034 ′ 122 Λ + c → pK - π + decays represents a significant improvement over the present world average.