500th BaBar paper accepted for publication November 16, 2012
The benchmark underscores BaBar’s high scientific productivity. Since April 2008, when Babar ceased operation, the collaboration has continued to mine this uniquely versatile data sample, with its rich array of yet-to-be-explored physics.
BABAR Data in Tension with the Standard Model,
May 24, 2012.
(See June 18
press release, science Highlight,
PRL synopsis.)
The BABAR collaboration reported on new measurements of
decays of B mesons into final states containing a tau lepton, the heavy
third-generation cousin of the electron and muon. The decay branching
fractions are higher than predicted by the Standard Model with a 3.4σ
level of significance.