Exclusive rare B -> K*e+e- decays at low recoil: controlling the long-distance effects

We present a model-independent description of the exclusive rare decays B-> K* e+e- in the low recoil region (large lepton invariant mass q^2 ~ m_b^2). In this region the long-distance effects from quark loops can be computed with the help of an operator product expansion in 1/Q, with Q={m_b, \sqrt{q^2}}. Nonperturbative effects up to and including terms suppressed by Lambda/Q and mc^2/mb^2 relative to the short-distance amplitude can be included in a model-independent way. Based on these results, we propose an improved method for determining the CKM matrix element |V{ub}| from a combination of rare and semileptonic B and D decays near the zero recoil point. The residual theoretical uncertainty from long distance effects in this |V{ub}| determination comes from terms in the OPE of order alpha_s(Q)\Lambda/mb, alpha_s^2(Q), mc^4/mb^4$ and duality violations and is estimated to be below 10%.Comment: 21 pages RevTex, 2 figures; v3: extensive numerical changes in the NLL analysis, with improved stability under scale dependence. Typos fixed, version to appear in Phys.Rev.

Anatomy of ε′/ε\varepsilon'/\varepsilon beyond the Standard Model

We present for the first time a model-independent anatomy of the ratio $\varepsilon'/\varepsilon$ in the context of the $\Delta S = 1$ effective theory with operators invariant under QCD and QED and in the context of the Standard Model Effective Field Theory (SMEFT) with the operators invariant under the full SM gauge group. Our goal is to identify the new physics scenarios that are probed by this ratio and which could help to explain a possible deviation from the SM that is hinted by the data. To this end we derive a master formula for $\varepsilon'/\varepsilon$, which can be applied to any theory beyond the Standard Model (BSM) in which the Wilson coefficients of all contributing operators have been calculated at the electroweak scale. The relevant hadronic matrix elements of BSM operators are from the Dual QCD approach and the SM ones from lattice QCD. Within SMEFT, the constraints from $K^0$ and $D^0$ mixing as well as electric dipole moments limit significantly potential new physics contributions to $\varepsilon'/\varepsilon$. Correlations of $\varepsilon'/\varepsilon$ with $K\to\pi\nu\bar\nu$ decays are briefly discussed. Building on our EFT analysis and the model-independent constraints, we discuss implications of a possible deviation from the SM in $\varepsilon'/\varepsilon$ for model building, highlighting the role of the new scalar and tensor matrix elements in models with scalar mediators.Comment: 47 pages, 4 figures. v3: signs in tables 6-10 corrected, numerical results and conclusions unchange

Cornering New Physics in b --> s Transitions

We derive constraints on Wilson coefficients of dimension-six effective operators probing the b --> s transition, using recent improved measurements of the rare decays Bs --> mu+mu-, B --> K mu+mu- and B --> K* mu+mu- and including all relevant observables in inclusive and exclusive decays. We consider operators present in the SM as well as their chirality-flipped counterparts and scalar operators. We find good agreement with the SM expectations. Compared to the situation before winter 2012, we find significantly more stringent constraints on the chirality-flipped coefficients due to complementary constraints from B --> K mu+mu- and B --> K* mu+mu- and due to the LHCb measurement of the angular observable S_3 in the latter decay. We also list the full set of observables sensitive to new physics in the low recoil region of B --> K* mu+mu-.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figures, 4 tables. v3: typos correcte

Complete Anatomy of B -> K*ll and its angular distribution

We present a complete and optimal set of observables for the exclusive 4-body B meson decay B -> K*(->K pi) l+l- in the low dilepton mass region, that contains a maximal number of clean observables. This basis of observables is built in a systematic way. We show that all the previously defined observables and any observable that one can construct, can be expressed as a function of this basis. This set of observables contains all the information that can be extracted from the angular distribution in the cleanest possible way. We provide explicit expressions for the full and the uniangular distributions in terms of this basis. The conclusions presented here can be easily extended to the large-q^2 region. We study the sensitivity of the observables to right-handed currents and scalars. Finally, we present for the first time all the symmetries of the full distribution including massive terms and scalar contributions.Comment: 37 pages, 12 Figures. Corrected typo in Eqs. (29) and (44). Results and conclusions unchange

Bayesian Fit of Exclusive b→sℓˉℓb \to s \bar\ell\ell Decays: The Standard Model Operator Basis

We perform a model-independent fit of the short-distance couplings $C_{7,9,10}$ within the Standard Model set of $b\to s\gamma$ and $b\to s\bar\ell\ell$ operators. Our analysis of $B \to K^* \gamma$, $B \to K^{(*)} \bar\ell\ell$ and $B_s \to \bar\mu\mu$ decays is the first to harness the full power of the Bayesian approach: all major sources of theory uncertainty explicitly enter as nuisance parameters. Exploiting the latest measurements, the fit reveals a flipped-sign solution in addition to a Standard-Model-like solution for the couplings $C_i$. Each solution contains about half of the posterior probability, and both have nearly equal goodness of fit. The Standard Model prediction is close to the best-fit point. No New Physics contributions are necessary to describe the current data. Benefitting from the improved posterior knowledge of the nuisance parameters, we predict ranges for currently unmeasured, optimized observables in the angular distributions of $B\to K^*(\to K\pi)\,\bar\ell\ell$.Comment: 42 pages, 8 figures; v2: Using new lattice input for f_Bs, considering Bs-mixing effects in BR[B_s->ll]. Main results and conclusion unchanged, matches journal versio

Supersymmetric constraints from Bs -> mu+mu- and B -> K* mu+mu- observables

We study the implications of the recent LHCb limit and results on Bs -> mu+mu- and B -> K* mu+mu- observables in the constrained SUSY scenarios. After discussing the Standard Model predictions and carefully estimating the theoretical errors, we show the constraining power of these observables in CMSSM and NUHM. The latest limit on BR(Bs -> mu+mu-), being very close to the SM prediction, constrains strongly the large tan(beta) regime and we show that the various angular observables from B -> K* mu+mu- decay can provide complementary information in particular for moderate tan(beta) values.Comment: 30 pages, 14 figure

The Benefits of B ---> K* l+ l- Decays at Low Recoil

Using the heavy quark effective theory framework put forward by Grinstein and Pirjol we work out predictions for B -> K* l+ l-, l = (e, mu), decays for a softly recoiling K*, i.e., for large dilepton masses sqrt{q^2} of the order of the b-quark mass m_b. We work to lowest order in Lambda/Q, where Q = (m_b, sqrt{q^2}) and include the next-to-leading order corrections from the charm quark mass m_c and the strong coupling at O(m_c^2/Q^2, alpha_s). The leading Lambda/m_b corrections are parametrically suppressed. The improved Isgur-Wise form factor relations correlate the B -> K* l+ l- transversity amplitudes, which simplifies the description of the various decay observables and provides opportunities for the extraction of the electroweak short distance couplings. We propose new angular observables which have very small hadronic uncertainties. We exploit existing data on B -> K* l+ l- distributions and show that the low recoil region provides powerful additional information to the large recoil one. We find disjoint best-fit solutions, which include the Standard Model, but also beyond-the-Standard Model ones. This ambiguity can be accessed with future precision measurements.Comment: 31 pages, 8 figures; Instability near minimal recoil from numerics removed, Fig. 1 replaced and minor shifts in short distance uncertainties in SM predictions; typos corrected and references added; main results and conclusions unchange

Bˉ→Xsγ\bar{B}\to X_s \gamma in the Two Higgs Doublet Model up to Next-to-Next-to-Leading Order in QCD

We compute three-loop matching corrections to the Wilson coefficients $C_7$ and $C_8$ in the Two Higgs Doublet Model by applying expansions for small, intermediate and large charged Higgs boson masses. The results are used to evaluate the branching ratio of $\bar{B}\to X_s \gamma$ to next-to-next-to leading order accuracy, and to determine an updated lower limit on the charged Higgs boson mass. We find \mhplus \ge 380 GeV at 95% confidence level when the recently completed BABAR data analysis is taken into account. Our results for the charged Higgs contribution to the branching ratio exhibit considerably weaker sensitivity to the matching scale $\mu_0$, as compared to previous calculations.Comment: 20 pages, 15 figures; v2: minor modifications, matches published version in JHE

Angular analysis of B --> V (--> P_1 P_2) l^+ l^- decays

The angular analysis of exclusive rare B-meson decays via intermediate vector mesons V into 4-body final states of two pseudo-scalars P_1, P_2 and a pair of light leptons l = e, mu offers a large set of observables. They can be used to test the electroweak short-distance couplings in the Standard Model and to search for New Physics. The two kinematic regions of low and high dilepton mass depend on short-distance physics in complementary ways and can be expanded in powers of Lambda_QCD/m_b. These expansions guide towards suitable combinations of observables allowing to i) reduce the hadronic uncertainties in the extraction of the short-distance couplings or ii) test the lattice QCD (B -> V) form factors in short-distance independent combinations. Several such possibilities of CP-averaged and CP-asymmetric (T-even and T-odd) quantities are presented for B_d^0 --> K^*0 (-> K pi) l^+ l^- and time-integrated CP-asymmetries without tagging for (anti-B_s, B_s) --> phi (--> K^- K^+) l^+ l^- decays in view of the latest B-factory and CDF results and the forthcoming LHCb measurements.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures; Talk given at Discrete '10: Symposium on Prospects in the Physics of Discrete Symmetries, Rome, Italy, 6-11 Dec 201