Probing new physics via the transverse amplitudes ofB0→K*0(→K−π+)l+l−at large recoil

Abstract

We perform an analysis of the K* polarization states in the exclusive B meson decay B0->K*0(-> K- pi+)l+ l- (l=e, mu, tau) in the low dilepton mass region, where the final vector meson has a large energy. Working in the transversity basis, we study various observables that involve the K* spin amplitudes Aperp, Apar, A0 by exploiting the heavy-to-light form factor relations in the heavy quark and large-E_K* limit. We find that at leading order in 1/m_b and alpha_s the form-factor dependence of the asymmetries that involve transversely polarized K* completely drops out. At next-to-leading logarithmic order, including factorizable and non-factorizable corrections, the theoretical errors for the transverse asymmetries turn out to be small in the standard model (SM). Integrating over the lower part of the dimuon mass region, and varying the theoretical input parameters, the SM predicts A_T^(1)=0.9986+/- 0.0002 and A_T^(2)=-0.043+/- 0.003. In addition, the longitudinal and transverse polarization fractions are found to be (69+/-3)% and (31+/-3)% respectively, so that Gamma_L/Gamma_T = 2.23+/-0.31. Beyond the SM, we focus on new physics that mainly gives sizable contributions to the coefficients C_7^eff' of the electromagnetic dipole operators. Taking into account experimental data on rare B decays, we find large effects of new physics in the transverse asymmetries. Furthermore, we show that a measurement of longitudinal and transverse polarization fractions will provide complementary information on physics beyond the SM.