Factorization and dispersion relations for radiative leptonic B decay

Abstract

Applying the dispersion approach we compute perturbative QCD corrections to the power suppressed soft contribution of $B \to \gamma \ell \nu$ at leading twist. QCD factorization for the $B \to \gamma^{\ast}$ form factors is demonstrated explicitly for the hard-collinear transverse polarized photon at one loop, with the aid of the method of regions. While the one-loop hard function is identical to the matching coefficient of the QCD weak current $\bar u \, \gamma_{\mu \perp} \, (1- \gamma_5) \, b$ in soft-collinear effective theory, the jet function from integrating out the hard-collinear fluctuations differs from the corresponding one entering the factorization formula of $B \to \gamma \ell \nu$. Furthermore, we evaluate the sub-leading power contribution to the $B \to \gamma$ form factors from the three-particle $B$-meson distribution amplitudes (DAs) at tree level. The soft contribution to the $B \to \gamma$ form factors from the three-particle $B$-meson DAs is shown to be of the same power compared with the corresponding hard correction, in contrast to the two-particle counterparts. Numerically the next-to-leading-order QCD correction to the soft two-particle contribution in $B \to \gamma$ form factors will induce an approximately $\left (10 \sim 20 \right) \%$ shift to the tree-level contribution at $\lambda_B(\mu_0)=354 \, {\rm MeV}$. Albeit of power suppression parametrically, the soft two-particle correction can decrease the leading power predictions for the $B \to \gamma$ form factors by an amount of $\left (10 \sim 30 \right) \%$ with the same value of $\lambda_B(\mu_0)$. Employing the phenomenological model of the three-particle $B$-meson DAs inspired by a QCD sum rule analysis, the three-particle contribution to the $B \to \gamma$ form factors is predicted to be of ${\cal O} (1 \%)$, at leading order in $\alpha_s$, with the default theory inputs.