Measurement of the Forward-Backward Asymmetry in the Production of $B^{\pm }$ Mesons in $p\bar{p}$ Collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 1.96 TeV

We present a measurement of the forward-backward asymmetry in the production of $B^{\pm }$ mesons, $A_{\mathrm{F}\mathrm{B}}(B^{\pm })$, using $B^{\pm} \rightarrow J/\psi K^{\pm}$decaysin10.4${\rm fb}^{-1}$of$p\bar{p}$collisionsat$\sqrt{s} = 1.96$ TeV collected by the D0 experiment during Run II of the Tevatron collider. A nonzero asymmetry would indicate a preference for a particular flavor, i.e., $b$ quark or $\bar{b}$ antiquark, to be produced in the direction of the proton beam. We extract $A_{\mathrm{F}\mathrm{B}}(B^{\pm })$ from a maximum likelihood fit to the difference between forward- and backward-produced $B^{\pm }$ mesons. We measure an asymmetry consistent with zero: $A_{\mathrm{F}\mathrm{B}}(B^{\pm })$ = [$-$0.24 $\pm$ 0.41 (stat) $\pm$ 0.19 (syst)]%.