Track Reconstruction Efficiency and Analysis of $B^0 \to K^{*0} \mu^+ \mu^-$ at the LHCb Experiment

The LHCb experiment at the Large Hadron Collider is a particle physics experiment dedicated to the investigation of so-called $B$ mesons. To track long-living charged particles traversing the detector, LHCb comprises three tracking stations and a dipole magnet. The efficiency to reconstruct a long-living particle is of crucial importance for many physics analyses. A novel method to access this track reconstruction efficiency is presented and discussed in detail. Rare decays of $B$-mesons are a prospective way to search for physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics, as new physics can enter at the same level as Standard Model physics. The decay $B^0 \to K^{*0} \mu^+ \mu^-$ is an ideal laboratory for such searches, as its four-particle final state gives rise to many angular distributions which can be measured. One quantity of particular interest is the zero-crossing point of the forward-backward asymmetry $A_{\rm{FB}}$, as it can be predicted theoretically with a small uncertainty. The first measurement of this zero-crossing point and the evaluation of its experimental uncertainty is presented, using the collision data collected during 2011 with LHCb. The measurement is in agreement with the prediction of the Standard Model. The analyses of precisely predicted quantities in the $B^0 \to K^{*0} \mu^+ \mu^-$ decay is then expanded to four observables called $P_{4}^{\prime}$, $P_{5}^{\prime}$, $P_{6}^{\prime}$ and $P_{8}^{\prime}$ which are measured for the first time in an experiment. While $P_{4}^{\prime}$, $P_{6}^{\prime}$ and $P_{8}^{\prime}$ show a good agreement with the prediction by the Standard Model, $P_{5}^{\prime}$ shows a deviation from the Standard Model prediction by about four standard deviations.