Bs,d→ππ,πK,KK: status and prospects

Abstract

Several years ago, it was pointed out that the U-spin-related decays Bd→π+π-, Bs→K+K- and Bd→π∓K±, Bs→π±K∓ offer interesting strategies for the extraction of the angle γ of the unitarity triangle. Using the first results from the Tevatron on the Bs decays and the B-factory data on Bu,d modes, we compare the determinations of γ from both strategies, study the sensitivity on U-spin-breaking effects, discuss the resolution of discrete ambiguities, predict observables that were not yet measured but will be accessible at LHCb, explore the extraction of the width difference ΔΓs from untagged Bs→K+K- rates, and address the impact of new physics. The data for the Bd→π+π-, Bs→K+K- system favour the BaBar measurement of direct CP violation in Bd→π+π-, which will be used in the numerical analysis and result in a fortunate situation, yielding γ=(66.6+4.3+4.0 -5.0-3.0)°, where the latter errors correspond to a generous estimate of U-spin-breaking effects. On the other hand, the Bd→π∓K±, Bs→π±K∓ analysis leaves us with 26°≤γ≤70°, and points to a value of the Bs→π±K∓ branching ratio that is larger than the current Tevatron result. An important further step will be the measurement of mixing-induced CP violation in Bs→K+K-, which will also allow us to extract the B0 s–B0 s mixing phase unambiguously with the help of Bs→J/ψφ at the LHC. Finally, the measurement of direct CP violation in Bs→K+K- will make the full exploitation of the physics potential of the Bs,d→ππ,πK,KK modes possible.