Heavy baryon production and decay

The branching ratio B({Lambda}{sub c}{r_arrow}pK{sup {minus}}{pi}{sup +}) normalizes the production and decay of charmed and bottom baryons. At present, this crucial branching ratio is extracted dominantly from {bar B}{r_arrow}baryons analyses. This paper questions several of the underlying assumptions and predicts sizable {bar B}{r_arrow}D{sup ({asterisk})}N{bar N}{sup {prime}}X transitions, which were traditionally neglected. It predicts B({Lambda}{sub c}{r_arrow}pK{sup {minus}}{pi}{sup +}) to be larger (0.07{plus_minus}0.02) than the world average. Some consequences are briefly mentioned. Several techniques to measure B({Lambda}{sub c}{r_arrow}pK{sup {minus}}{pi}{sup +}) are outlined with existing or soon available data samples. By equating two recent CLEO results, an appendix obtains B(D{sup 0}{r_arrow}K{sup {minus}}{pi}{sup +})=0.035{plus_minus}0.002, which is somewhat smaller than the current world average. {copyright} {ital 1998} {ital The American Physical Society}