Cabibbo suppressed decays and the Ξc+ lifetime -: art. no. 114004

The problem of the Xi(c)(+) lifetime is considered in the framework of heavy-quark expansion and SU(3)(flavor) symmetry. The lifetime of Xi(c)(+) is expressed in terms of measurable inclusive quantities of the other two charmed baryons belonging to the same SU(3)(flavor) multiplet in a model-independent way. In such a treatment, inclusive decay rates of singly Cabibbo suppressed decay modes have a prominent role. An analogous approach is applied to the multiplet of charmed mesons yielding interesting predictions on D-s(+) properties. The results obtained indicate that a more precise measurement of inclusive decay quantities of some charmed hadrons (such as Lambda(c)(+)) that are more amenable to experiment can contribute significantly to our understanding of decay properties of other charmed hadrons (such as Xi(c)(+)) where discrepancies or ambiguities exist.