Reparametrization invariance of B decay amplitudes and implications for new physics searches in B decays

When studying B decays within the Standard Model, it is customary to use the unitarity of the CKM matrix in order to write the decay amplitudes in terms of only two of the three weak phases which appear in the various diagrams. Occasionally, it is mentioned that those two weak phases can be used in order to describe any decay amplitude, even beyond the Standard Model. Here we point out that, when describing a generic decay amplitude, the two weak phases can be chosen completely at will, and we study the behavior of the decay amplitudes under changes in the two weak phases chosen as a basis. Of course, physical observables cannot depend on such reparametrizations. This has an impact in discussions of the SM and in attempts to parametrize new physics effects in the decay amplitudes. We illustrate these issues by looking at B --> psi K_S and the isospin analysis in B --> pi pi.Comment: 16 pages, RevTe

Study of pure annihilation type decays B→Ds∗KB \to D_s^{*} K

In this work, we calculate the rare decays $B^0 \to D_s^{*-} K^+$ and $B^+ \to D_s^{*+} \bar{K}^0$ in perturbative QCD approach with Sudakov resummation. We give the branching ratio of $10^{-5}$ for $B^0 \to D_s^{*-}K^+$, which will be tested soon in $B$ factories. The decay $B^+ \to D_s^{*+} \bar{K}^0$ has a very small branching ratio at ${\cal O}(10^{-8})$, due to the suppression from CKM matrix elements $|V_{ub}^* V_{cd}|$. It may be sensitive to new physics contributions.Comment: 14 pages, 1 figur

Molecular mechanisms underlying anti-tumor promoting activities of heat-processed Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer.

Recently, there have been considerable efforts to search for naturally occurring substances that can inhibit, reverse, or retard the multi-stage carcinogenesis. A wide array of phenolic substances derived from edible and medicinal plants have been reported to possess anticarcinogenic and antimutagenic activities and in many cases, the chemopreventive activities of phytochemicals are associated with their anti-inflammatory and/or antioxidative properties. Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer cultivated in Korea has been widely used in traditional herbal medicine for the treatment of various diseases. Certain fractions or purified ingredients of ginseng have been shown to exert anticarcinogenic and antimutagenic activities. Our previous studies have revealed that the methanol extract of heat-processed Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer attenuates the lipid peroxidation in rat brain homogenates and is also capable of scavenging superoxide generated by xanthine- xanthine oxidase or by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) in differentiated human promyelocytic leukemia (HL-60) cells. Topical application of the same extract onto shaven backs of female ICR mice also suppressed TPA-induced skin tumor promotion. Likewise, topical application of ginsenoside Rg3, one of the constituents of heat-treated ginseng, significantly inhibited TPA-induced mouse epidermal ornithine decarboxylase activity and skin tumor promotion. Expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in TPA-stimulated mouse skin was markedly suppressed by Rg3 pretreatment. In addition, Rg3 inhibited TPA-stimulated activation of NF-kappaB and extracellular-regulated protein kinase (ERK), one of the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase in mouse skin and also in cultured human breast epithelial cells (MCF-10A)

B meson light-cone wavefunctions in the heavy quark limit

We present a systematic study of the B meson light-cone wavefunctions in QCD in the heavy-quark limit. We construct model-independent formulae for the light-cone wavefunctions in terms of independent dynamical degrees of freedom, which exactly satisfy the QCD equations of motion and constraints from heavy-quark symmetry. The results demonstrate novel behaviors of longitudinal as well as transverse momentum distribution in the B mesons.Comment: 5 pages LaTeX, 1 style file. Talk presented at RADCOR/Loops and Legs 2002, Kloster Banz, Germany, September 8-13, 200

Study of color suppressed modes B0→Dˉ(∗)0η(′)B^0 \to \bar D^{(*)0} \eta^{(\prime)}

The color suppressed modes $B^0 \to \bar D^{(*)0} \eta^{(\prime)}$ are analyzed in perturbative QCD approach. We find that the dominant contribution is from the non-factorizable diagrams. The branching ratios calculated in our approach for $B^0 \to \bar D^{(*)0} \eta$ agree with current experiments. By neglecting the gluonic contribution, we predict the branching ratios of $B^0 \to \bar D^{(*)0} \eta'$ are at the comparable size of $B^0 \to \bar D^{(*)0} \pi^0$, but smaller than that of $B^0 \to \bar D^{(*)0} \eta$.Comment: revtex, 5 pages, axodraw.st

Newly observed two-body decays of B mesons in a hybrid perspective

In consistency with the b --> c type of (quasi) two body decays, recently observed two body decays of B mesons are studied in a hybrid perspective in which their amplitude is given by a sum of factorizable and non-factorizable ones, and a role of the latter in these decays are discussed.Comment: 7 page

Noise reduction in functional near-infrared spectroscopy signals by independent component analysis

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is used to detect concentration changes of oxyhemoglobin and deoxy-hemoglobin in the human brain. The main difficulty entailed in the analysis of fNIRS signals is the fact that the hemodynamic response to a specific neuronal activation is contaminated by physiological and instrument noises, motion artifacts, and other interferences. This paper proposes independent component analysis (ICA) as a means of identifying the original hemodynamic response in the presence of noises. The original hemodynamic response was reconstructed using the primary independent component (IC) and other, less-weighting-coefficient ICs. In order to generate experimental brain stimuli, arithmetic tasks were administered to eight volunteer subjects. The t-value of the reconstructed hemodynamic response was improved by using the ICs found in the measured data. The best t-value out of 16 low-pass-filtered signals was 37, and that of the reconstructed one was 51. Also, the average t-value of the eight subjects' reconstructed signals was 40, whereas that of all of their low-pass-filtered signals was only 20. Overall, the results showed the applicability of the ICA-based method to noise-contamination reduction in brain mapping.open1

Nonfactorizable contributions to B→D(∗)MB \to D^{(*)} M decays

While the factorization assumption works well for many two-body nonleptonic $B$ meson decay modes, the recent measurement of $\bar B\to D^{(*)0}M^0$ with $M=\pi$, $\rho$ and $\omega$ shows large deviation from this assumption. We analyze the $B\to D^{(*)}M$ decays in the perturbative QCD approach based on $k_T$ factorization theorem, in which both factorizable and nonfactorizable contributions can be calculated in the same framework. Our predictions for the Bauer-Stech-Wirbel parameters, $|a_2/a_1|= 0.43\pm 0.04$ and $Arg(a_2/a_1)\sim -42^\circ$ and $|a_2/a_1|= 0.47\pm 0.05$ and $Arg(a_2/a_1)\sim -41^\circ$, are consistent with the observed $B\to D\pi$ and $B\to D^*\pi$ branching ratios, respectively. It is found that the large magnitude $|a_2|$ and the large relative phase between $a_2$ and $a_1$ come from color-suppressed nonfactorizable amplitudes. Our predictions for the ${\bar B}^0\to D^{(*)0}\rho^0$, $D^{(*)0}\omega$ branching ratios can be confronted with future experimental data.Comment: 25 pages with Latex, axodraw.sty, 6 figures and 5 tables, Version published in PRD, Added new section 5 and reference

Possible Large Direct CP Violations in Charmless B-Decays

We discuss the perturbative QCD approach for the exclusive two body B-meson decays to light mesons. We briefly review its ingredients and some important theoretical issues on factorization approach. We show numerical results which are compatible with present experimantal data for the charmless B-meson decays. Specailly we predict the possibility of large direct CP violation effects in $B^0 \to \pi^{+}\pi^{-}$ $(23\pm7$ and $B^0\to K^{+}\pi^{-}$ $(-17\pm5$. In the last section we investigate two methods to determine the weak phases $\phi_2$ and $\phi_3$ from $B \to \pi\pi,K\pi$ processes. We obtain bounds on $\phi_2$ and $\phi_3$ from present experimental measurements.Comment: 18 pages, latex, 8 figures and 8 tables, typos corrected and added more tables and references. Presented at the 3rd workshop on Higher Luminosity B Factory, 6-7 August 2002, Kanagawa, Japan; Submitted to Phys. Rev.