Probing new physics in B -> f_0(980) K decays

We study the hadronic decay modes $B^{\pm(0)} \to f_0(980) K^{\pm(0)}$, involving a scalar and a pseudoscalar meson in the final state. These decay modes are dominated by the loop induced $b \to s \bar q q(q=s,u,d)$ penguins along with a small $b \to u$ tree level transition (for $B^+ \to f_0 K^+$) and annihilation diagrams. Therefore, the standard model expectation of direct CP violation is negligibly small and the mixing induced CP violation parameter in the mode $B^0 \to f_0 K_S$ is expected to give the same value of $\sin(2\beta)$, as extracted from $B^0 \to J/\psi K_S$ but with opposite sign. Using the generalized factorization approach we find the direct CP violation in the decay mode $B^+ \to f_0 K^+$ to be of the order of few percent. We then study the effect of the R-parity violating supersymmetric model and show that the direct CP violating asymmetry in $B^+ \to f_0(980) K^+$ could be as large as $\sim 80$ and the mixing induced CP asymmetry in $B^0 \to f_0 K_S$ (i.e., $-S_{f_0 K_S}$) could deviate significantly from that of $\sin(2 \beta)_{J/\psi K_S}$.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures, version to appear in Phys. Rev.

Weak phase information from the color suppressed B_d^0 -> D^{*0} K^{*0} modes

The decay channels $B_d^0 \to D^{*0} K^{*0}$ are investigated for extracting weak $CKM$ phase information. These channels are described by color-suppressed tree diagrams only and are free from penguin contributions. The branching ratios for these channels are found to be $\sim \cal O$ $(10^{-5} - 10^{-6})$ which can be measured at the currently running $B$ factories. The method presented here may be well-suited to determine the phase $\gamma$.Comment: 11 pages, revised extensively, version to appear in Phys. Rev.

Signature of new physics in B -> phi pi decay

We investigate the effect of an extra fourth quark generation and FCNC mediated $Z$ and $Z'$ bosons on the rare decay mode $B^- \to \phi \pi^-$. In the standard model, this mode receives only $b \to d$ penguin contributions and therefore, highly suppressed with branching ratio $\sim 5 \times 10^{-9}$. This in turn makes this mode a very sensitive probe for new physics. We find that due to the above mentioned new physics contributions there is a significant enhancement in its branching ratio. Furthermore, the direct CP violation parameter which is identically zero in the SM is found to be quite significant. If this mode will be observed in the upcoming LHCb experiment, it will not only provide a clear signal of new physics but also can be used to constrain the new physics parameter space.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, version to appear in Phys. Lett.

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