Evidence for B − → D * * 0 τ − ν τ ¯ Decays

The first evidence for the decay $B^-\rightarrow D^{**0}τ^-\overline{ν_τ}$ is obtained using proton-proton collision data collected by the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9 fb$^{-1}$ , at centre-of-mass energies of 7, 8 and 13 Tev. Here, the $D^{**0}$ meson represents any of the three excited charm mesons $D_{1}(2420)^{0}$, $D_{2}^{*}(2460)^{0}$, and $D_{1}^{'}(2400)^{0}$. The $B^-\rightarrow D^{**0}τ^-\overline{ν_τ}$ signal is measured with a significance of 3.5 $σ$, including systematic uncertainties. The combined branching fraction $BR(B^-\rightarrow D^{**0}_{1,2}τ^-\overline{ν_τ})\times BR(D^{**0}_{1,2}\rightarrow D^{*+}π^-)$, where $D^{**0}_{1,2}$ denotes both $D_{1}(2420)^{0}$ and $D_{2}^{*}(2460)^{0}$ contributions, is measured to be $(0.051\pm0.013(stat)\pm 0.006(syst)\pm 0.009(\rm{ext}) )\%$, where the last uncertainty reflects that of the branching fraction of the normalisation channel $B^-\rightarrow D^{**0}_{1,2}D_s^{(*)-}$. The ratio between the tauonic and muonic semileptonic $B$ decays, with the latter taken from world average values, is also determined and found to be ${\cal R}(D^{**0}_{1,2})=0.13\pm0.03(stat)\pm0.01(syst)\pm0.02\,(\rm{ext})$.