THE GLUONIC DECAY OF THE B-QUARK AND THE ETA'-MESON

The observed inclusive decay of B-mesons into eta' + X is interpreted as the consequence of the gluonic decay of the b-quark into an s-quark . As a result of the QCD anomaly this decay proceeds partly as the dec ay b --> s + eta', similar to b --> s + J/psi. The hadronic recoiling system is found to have a relatively large mass. Analogously one expec ts a decay of the type b --> s + sigma. The branching ratios for these decays are large (of the order of 10 %). The results indicate that th ere is no room for an anomalously large chromomagnetic decay mode of t he b-quark. Gluon jets are expected to exhibit an anomalously large te ndency to fragment into eta'- and sigma-mesons. (C) 1997 Elsevier Scie nce B.V.