Observation of the baryonic decay B^0 → Λ_c^+ pK^−K^+

We report the observation of the baryonic decay B^0 → Λ^+_c pK^−K^+ using a data sample of 471×10^6 BB pairs produced in e^+e^− annihilations at √s = 10.58  GeV. This data sample was recorded with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II storage ring at SLAC. We find B(B^0 → Λ^+_c pK^−K^+)=(2.5±0.4_((stat))±0.2_((syst))± 0.6_(B(Λ^+_c)))×10^(−5), where the uncertainties are statistical, systematic, and due to the uncertainty of the Λ^+_c →p K^−π^+ branching fraction, respectively. The result has a significance corresponding to 5.0 standard deviations, including all uncertainties. For the resonant decay B^0 → Λ^+_c pϕ, we determine the upper limit B(B^0 → Λ^+_c pϕ) u003c1.2 × 10^(−5) at 90% confidence level.