CP violation in the B meson system: recent experimental results

Abstract

Recent experimental results on CP violation in the study of B meson decays are reviewed. The emphasis is put on the recent measurements of the CP parameter sin2fl by the BABAR and BELLE experiments at asymmetric B factories, which establish for the flrst time CP violation in the B meson system. L decays thirty seven years ago (1), while the last flfteen years have been rich in experimental and theoretical developments in Heavy Flavor physics (2). The consistency of the experimental results with the general scheme of charged weak interactions and CP violation in the Standard Model of particle physics is highly non-trivial. Now is the time to challenge the model experimentally in its prediction of large CP violation efiects in the B meson system. This paper gives an overview of the present experimental knowledge on the subject. We start with a status report on the new generation ofB factory experiments, followed by an introduction to the B 0 B 0 system and the CKM matrix, and an overview of present experimental constraints on the Unitarity Triangle from CP-violating K and CP-conserving B observations. We then review in turn searches for CP violation in the B system: direct CP violation, CP violation in B 0 B 0 mixing and, flnally, CP violation in the interference between mixing and decay, with an emphasis on the recent sin2fl measurements by BABAR and BELLE. We conclude the review by an overview of experimental prospects in the domain.