Study of polarization inB→VTdecays

Abstract

In this paper, we examine B{yields}VT decays (V is a vector and T is a tensor meson), whose final-state particles can have transverse or longitudinal polarization. Measurements have been made of B{yields}{phi}K{sub 2}*, and it is found that f{sub T}/f{sub L} is small, where f{sub T} (f{sub L}) is the fraction of transverse (longitudinal) decays. We find that the standard model naively predicts that f{sub T}/f{sub L}<<1. The two extensions of the naive standard model which have been proposed to explain the large f{sub T}/f{sub L} in B{yields}{phi}K*--penguin annihilation and rescattering--make no firm predictions for the polarization in B{yields}{phi}K{sub 2}*. The two new-physics scenarios, which explain the data in B{yields}{pi}K and the {phi}({rho})K* polarization measurements, can reproduce the f{sub T}/f{sub L} data in B{yields}{phi}K{sub 2}* only if the B{yields}T form factors obey a certain hierarchy. Finally, we present the general angular analysis which can be used to get helicity information using two- and three-body decays.