SU(3) symmetry and its breaking effects in semileptonic heavy baryon decays

We employ the flavor SU(3) symmetry to analyze semileptonic decays of anti-triplet charmed baryons (Lambda(++,)(c) Xi(+)(c),(0)) and find that the experimental data on B(Xi+nu) implies B(0c -> xe003;-e+nu e) = (4.10 +/- 0.46)% and B(Xi(0)(c)-> Xi(-)mu+nu mu) = (3.98 +/- 0.57)%. When this prediction is confronted with recent experimental results from Belle collaboration B(Lambda(c) -> Xi-e+nu e) = (1.31 +/- 0.04 +/- 0.07 +/- 0.38)% and B(Lambda(c)(->) Xi-mu+nu mu) = (1.27 +/- 0.06 +/- 0.10 +/- 0.37)%, it is found that the SU(3) symmetry is severely broken. We then consider the generic SU(3) breaking effects both in decay amplitudes and the mixing effect between the anti-triplet and sextet charmed baryons. We find that the pertinent data can be accommodated in different scenarios but the breaking effects are inevitably large. In some interesting scenarios, we also explore the testable implications in these scenarios which can be stringently tested with more data become available. Similar analyses are carried out for the semileptonic decays of anti triplet beauty baryons to octet baryons and anti-triplet charmed baryons. The validity of SU(3) for these decays can also be examined when data become available. (C) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V.

Automated summary

Using flavor SU(3) symmetry, we analyzed the semileptonic decays of anti-triplet charmed baryons and found significant discrepancies between experimental data and theoretical predictions, indicating severe breaking of the SU(3) symmetry. We then considered generic SU(3) breaking effects, finding that the breaking effects are large but can be explained in different scenarios. Furthermore, we explored testable implications in some interesting scenarios that can be rigorously tested with more data.