Measuring direct CP violation in four body baryonic B decay modes at LHCb

Baryonic B decays may allow direct measurements of CP violation at LHCb. Direct CP violation in the decay mode B+ -> ppK*+ has been predicted to be 22% in the Standard Model, while it is predicted to be only 1% in B0 -> ppK*0. Both modes are believed to proceed through penguin diagrams, making them sensitive to new physics effects which could significantly alter the observed level of CP violation. LHCb's potential to observe CP violation in these decay modes is discussed. The decay mode B+ -> ppK*+ is expected to yield approx. 400 and B0 -> ppK*0 approx. 1600 signal events with 2fb^-1 of data taking. LHCb can expect to measure CP violating asymmetries with a precision of approx. 7% in B+ -> ppK*+ and approx. 3.5% in B0 -> ppK*0 with 2fb^-1 of data taking, and these measurements are not expected to be systematics limited.