Leptonic Decays of the Charged B Meson

The authors present a search for the decay B{sup +} {yields} {ell}{sup +}{nu}{sub {ell}} ({ell} = {tau}, {mu}, or e) in (458.9 {+-} 5.1) x 10{sup 6} {Upsilon}(4S) decays recorded with the BABAR detector at the SLAC PEP-II B-Factory. A sample of events with one reconstructed exclusive semi-leptonic B decay (B{sup -} {yields} D{sup 0}{ell}{sup -}{bar {nu}}X) is selected, and in the recoil a search for B{sup +} {yields} {ell}{sup +}{nu}{sub {ell}} signal is performed. The {tau} is identified in the following channels: {tau}{sup +} {yields} e{sup +}{nu}{sub e}{bar {nu}}{sub {tau}}, {tau}{sup +} {yields} {mu}{sup +}{nu}{sub {mu}}{bar {nu}}{sub {tau}}, {tau}{sup +} {yields} {pi}{sup +}{bar {nu}}{sub {tau}}, and {tau}{sup +} {yields} {pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup 0}{bar {nu}}{sub {tau}}. The analysis strategy and the statistical procedure is set up for branching fraction extraction or upper limit determination. They determine from the dataset a preliminary measurement of {Beta}(B{sup +} {yields} {tau}{sup +}{nu}{sub {tau}}) = (1.8 {+-} 0.8 {+-} 0.1) x 10{sup -4}, which excludes zero at 2.4{sigma}, and f{sub B} = 255 {+-} 58 MeV. Combination with the hadronically tagged measurement yields {Beta}(B{sup +} {yields} {tau}{sup +}{nu}{sub {tau}}) = (1.8 {+-} 0.6) x 10{sup -4}. They also set preliminary limits on the branching fractions atmore » {Beta}(B{sup +} {yields} e{sup +}{nu}{sub e}) < 7.7 x 10{sup -6} (90% C.L.), {Beta}(B{sup +} {yields} {mu}{sup +}{nu}{sub {mu}}) < 11 x 10{sup -6} (90% C.L.), and {Beta}(B{sup +} {yields} {tau}{sup +}{nu}{sub {tau}}) < 3.2 x 10{sup -4} (90% C.L.).« less