Precision Flavour Physics with B→KννˉB\to K\nu\bar\nu and B→Kl+l−B\to Kl^+l^-

We show that a combined analysis of $B\to K\nu\bar\nu$ and $B\to Kl^+l^-$ allows for new physics tests practically free of form factor uncertainties. Residual theory errors are at the level of several percent. Our study underlines the excellent motivation for measuring these modes at a Super Flavour Factory.Comment: 26 pages, 2 figure

Variability in supply and cross-shelf transport of pink shrimp (Farfantepenaeus duorarum) postlarvae into western Florida Bay

The variability in the supply of pink shrimp (Farfantepenaeus duorarum) postlarvae and the transport mechanisms of planktonic stages were investigated with field data and simulations of transport. Postlarvae entering the nursery grounds of Florida Bay were collected for three consecutive years at channels that connect the Bay with the Gulf of Mexico, and in channels of the Middle Florida Keys that connect the southeastern margin of the Bay with the Atlantic Ocean. The influx of postlarvae in the Middle Florida Keys was low in magnitude and varied seasonally and among years. In contrast, the greater postlarval influx occurred at the northwestern border of the Bay, where there was a strong seasonal pattern with peaks in influx from July through September each year. Planktonic stages need to travel up to 150 km eastward between spawning grounds (northeast of Dry Tortugas) and nursery grounds (western Florida Bay) in about 30 days, the estimated time of planktonic development for this species. A Lagrangian trajectory model was developed to estimate the drift of planktonic stages across the SW Florida shelf. The model simulated the maximal distance traveled by planktonic stages under various assumptions of behavior. Simulation results indicated that larvae traveling with the instantaneous current and exhibiting a diel behavior travel up to 65 km and 75% of the larvae travel only 30 km. However, the eastward distance traveled increased substantially when a larval response to tides was added to the behavioral variable (distance increased to 200 km and 85% of larvae traveled 150 km). The question is, when during larval development, and where on the shallow SW Florida shelf, does the tidal response become incorporated into the behavior of pink shrimp

Enhanced CP Violation with B→KD0(D‾0)B\to K D^0 (\overline D^0) Modes and Extraction of the CKM Angle gamma

The Gronau-London-Wyler (GLW) method extracts the CKM angle $\gamma$ by measuring $B^\pm$ decay rates involving $D^0/\overline D^0$ mesons. Since that method necessitates the interference between two amplitudes that are significantly different in magnitude, the resulting asymmetries tend to be small. CP violation can be greatly enhanced for decays to final states that are common to both D^0 and $\overline D^0$ and that are not CP eigenstates. In particular, large asymmetries are possible for final states f such that $D^0\to f$ is doubly Cabibbo suppressed while $\overline D^0\to f$ is Cabibbo allowed. The measurement of interference effects in two such modes allows the extraction of $\gamma$ without prior knowledge of $Br(B^-\to K^- \overline D^0)$, which may be difficult to determine due to backgrounds.Comment: 12 pages, LaTeX, no figure

Exploring CP Violation with B_d -> D K_s Decays

We (re)examine CP violation in the decays B_d -> D K_s, where D represents D^0, D(bar), or one of their excited states. The quantity $\sin^2(2\beta + \gamma)$ can be extracted from the time-dependent rates for $B_d(t) -> {\bar D}^{**0} K_s$ and $B_d(t) -> D^{**0} K_s$, where the $D^{**0}$ decays to $D^{(*)+}\pi^-$. If one considers a non-CP-eigenstate hadronic final state to which both D(bar) and D^0 can decay (e.g. $K^+\pi^-$), then one can obtain two of the angles of the unitarity triangle from measurements of the time-dependent rates for $B_d(t) -> (K^+\pi^-)_{D K_s}$ and $B_d(t) -> (K^-\pi^+)_{D K_s}$. There are no penguin contributions to these decays, so all measurements are theoretically clean.Comment: 15 pages, LaTeX, no figure

Semi-inclusive B Decays and Direct CP Violation in QCD Factorization

We have systematically investigated the semi-inclusive B decays B->MX, which are manifestations of the quark decay b->Mq, within the framework of QCD-improved factorization. These decays are theoretically clean and have distinctive experimental signatures. We focus on a class of these that do not require any form factor information and therefore may be especially suitable for extracting information on the angles $\alpha$ and $\gamma$ of the unitarity triangle. The nonfactorizable effects, such as vertex-type and penguin-type corrections to the two-body b decay and hard spectator corrections to the 3-body decay are calculable in the heavy quark limit. QCD factorization is applicable when the emitted meson is a light meson or a charmonium. We discuss the issue of the CPT constraint on partial rate asymmetries. The strong phase coming from final-state rescattering due to hard gluon exchange between the final states can induce large rate asymmetries for tree-dominated color-suppressed modes $(\pi^0,\rho^0,\omega)X_{\bar s}$. The nonfactorizable hard spectator interactions in the 3-body decay, though phase-space suppressed, are extremely important for the tree-dominated modes $(\pi^0,\rho^0,\omega)X_{\bar s}, \phi X$, $J X_s,J X$ and the penguin-dominated mode $\omega X_{s\bar s}$. In fact, they are dominated by the hard spectator corrections. Our result for ${\cal B} (B\to J/\psi X_s)$ is in agreement with experiment. The semi-inclusive decay modes: $B^0_s\to (\pi^0,\rho^0,\omega)X_{\bar s}$, $\rho^0X_{s\bar s}$, $B^0\to(K^-X,K^{*-}X)$ and $B^-\to (K^0X_s,K^{*0}X_s)$ are the most promising ones in searching for direct CP violation. In fact, they have branching ratios of order $10^{-6}-10^{-4}$ and CP rate asymmetries of order $(10-40)$.Comment: 28 page

Constraints on charged Higgs bosons from D(s)+- -> mu+- nu and D(s)+- -> tau+- nu

The decays D(s)+- -> mu+- nu and D(s)+- -> tau+- nu have traditionally been used to measure the D(s)+- meson decay constant f_D(s). Recent measurements at CLEO-c and the B factories suggest a branching ratio for both decays somewhat higher than the Standard Model prediction using f_D(s) from unquenched lattice calculations. The charged Higgs boson (H+-) in the Two Higgs Doublet Model (Type II) would also mediate these decays, but any sizeable contribution from H+- can only suppress the branching ratios and consequently is now slightly disfavoured. It is shown that constraints on the parameters tan(beta) and m_H+- from such decays can be competitive with and complementary to analogous constraints derived from the leptonic meson decays B+- -> tau+- nu_tau and K+- -> mu+- nu_mu, especially if lattice calculations eventually prefer f_D(s) < 250 MeV.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figure

B-> K photon photon via intermediate eta'

We examine our previous conjecture that the eta' intermediate resonance has the dominant role in the long distance contributions to B decay into two photons and a strange final state hadron. We calculate the branching ratio of the exclusive B-> K eta'-> K photon photon decay using the nonspectator mechanism for eta' production in charmless hadronic B decays. It is shown that the obtained branching ratio B^eta'(B-> K\gamma\gamma)~ 8.7 X 10^{-7} is more than twice as large as the eta_c contribution to this decay mode.Comment: 6 pages, latex, no figure

Bˉ0→π+X\bar B^0 \to \pi^+ X in the Standard Model

In this paper we investigate the possibility of studying $B\to \pi$ form factor using the semi-inclusive decays $\bar B^0 \to \pi^+ + X_q$. In general $B\to PX$ semi-inclusive decays involve several hadronic parameters. But for $\bar B^0 \to \pi^+ X_q$ decays we find that in the factorization approximation, the only unknown hadronic parameters are the form factors $F^{B\to \pi}_{0,1}$. Therefore these form factors can be studied in $\bar B^0 \to \pi^+ X_q$ decays. Using theoretical model calculations for the form factors the branching ratios for $\bar B^0 \to \pi^+ X_d(\Delta S = 0)$ and $\bar B^0 \to \pi^+ X_s (\Delta S = -1)$, with the cut $E_{\pi} > 2.1$ GeV, are estimated to be in the ranges of $(3.1\sim 4.9) \times 10^{-5}(F^{B\to \pi}_1(0)/0.33)^2$ and $(2.5\sim 4.2)\times 10^{-5}(F_1^{B\to \pi}(0)/0.33)^2$, respectively, depending on the value of $\gamma$. The combined branching ratio for $\bar B^0 \to \pi^+ (X_d+ X_s)$ is about $7.4\times 10^{-5} (F^{B\to \pi}_1(0)/0.33)^2$ and is insensitive to $\gamma$. We also discuss CP asymmetries in these decay modes.Comment: RevTex 8 pages and two figure

Impact of D0-D0bar mixing on the experimental determination of gamma

Several methods have been devised to measure the weak phase gamma using decays of the type B+- --> D K+-, where it is assumed that there is no mixing in the D0-D0bar system. However, when using these methods to uncover new physics, one must entertain the real possibility that the measurements are affected by new physics effects in the D0-D0bar system. We show that even values of x_D and/or y_D around 10^{-2} can have a significant impact in the measurement of sin^2{gamma}. We discuss the errors incurred in neglecting this effect, how the effect can be checked, and how to include it in the analysis.Comment: 18 pages, Latex with epsfig, 8 figure