Is the β phase maximal?

Abstract

The current experimental determination of the absolute values of the CKM elements indicates that 2|Vub/VcbVus|=(1−z), with z given by z=0.19±0.14. This fact implies that irrespective of the form of the quark Yukawa matrices, the measured value of the SM CP phase β is approximately the maximum allowed by the measured absolute values of the CKM elements. This is β=(π/6−z/3) for γ=(π/3+z/3), which implies α=π/2. Alternatively, assuming that β is exactly maximal and using the experimental measurement sin(2β)=0.726±0.037, the phase γ is predicted to be γ=(π/2−β)=66.3°±1.7°. The maximality of β, if confirmed by near-future experiments, may give us some clues as to the origin of CP violation.