Semi-inclusive hadronic B decays as null tests of the Standard Model

Abstract

We propose a new set of observables that can be used as experimental null tests of the Standard Model in charged and neutral B decays. The CP asymmetries in hadronic decays of charged B mesons into inclusive final states containing at least one of the following mesons: K_{S,L}, eta', c\bar c bound states or neutral K^* or D mesons, for all of which a U-spin rotation is equivalent to a CP conjugation, are CKM suppressed and furthermore vanish in the exact U-spin limit. We show how this reduces the theoretical error by using Soft Collinear Effective Theory to calculate the CP asymmetries for K_{S,L} X_{s+d}, K^* X_{s+d} and eta' X_{s+d} final states in the endpoint region. For these CP asymmetries only the flavor and not the charge of the decaying B meson needs to be tagged up to corrections of NLO in 1/m_b, making the measurements more accessible experimentally.

8 pages, significantly expanded after the observation that both neutral and charged B decays can be used, calculation for decays involving eta' added