Is There Still a B -> pi K Puzzle?

The measurements of B -> pi K decays have been in disagreement with the predictions of the Standard Model (SM) for some time. In this paper, we perform an update of this puzzle using the latest (2008) data. We find that the situation has become far less clear. A fit to the B -> pi K data alone suggests the presence of new physics (NP). Indeed, if one adds a constraint on the weak phase gamma coming from independent measurements -- the SM fit -- one finds that the fit is poor....

The present B -> pi K data is studied in the context of the standard model (SM) and with new physics (NP). We confirm that the SM has difficulties explaining the B -> pi K measurements. By adopting an effective-lagrangian parametrization of NP effects, we are able to rule out several classes of NP. Our model-independent analysis shows that the B -> pi K data can be accommodated by NP in the electroweak penguin sector.

Some discrepancies between theory and experiment in the B -> pi K decays suggest the possibility of a new physics contribution with the structure of an electroweak penguin amplitude. If such a scenario is realised in nature, the branching ratios of the decays B_s -> phi pi and B_s -> phi rho can be enhanced by about one order of magnitude. We review and update the current status of the B -> pi K puzzle and its implications for the decays B_s -> phi pi and B_s -> phi rho.

In the light of new experimental results on B -> K pi decays, we critically study the decay processes B -> K pi in a phenomenological way. Using the quark diagram approach and the currently available data, we determine the allowed values of the relevant theoretical parameters, corresponding to the electroweak (EW) penguin, the color-suppressed tree contribution, etc. In order to find the most likely values of the parameters in a statistically reliable way, we use the chi^2 mi...

We perform a combined analysis of $B \to \pi \pi$ and $B \to \pi K$ decays with the current experimental data. Assuming SU(3) flavor symmetry and no new physics contributions to the topological amplitudes, we demonstrate that the conventional parametrization in the Standard Model (SM) does not describe the data very well, in contrast with a similar analysis based on the earlier data. It is also shown that the introduction of smaller amplitudes and reasonable SU(3) breaking pa...

We discuss about a possibility of large electro-weak penguin contribution in B -> K pi from recent experimental data. The several relations among the branching ratios which realize when the contributions from tree type and electro-weak penguin are small compared with the gluon penguin and can be treated as the expansion parameters do not satisfy the data. The difference comes from the r^2 terms which is the square of the ratio with the gluon penguin and the main contribution ...

We show that the anomalies in the $B\to\pi\pi$ decay channels, {\em viz.}, the large branching ratio of $B\to\pi^0\pi^0$ and large direct CP asymmetry of $B\to\pi^+\pi^-$, can both be explained, even in the framework of existing theoretical models which predict the relative strengths of the tree and the strong penguin amplitudes, if there is an abnormally large electroweak penguin contribution. We also critically examine the expectation of a similarly large electroweak pengui...

We summarize a recent strategy for a global analysis of the B -> pi pi, pi K systems and rare decays. We find that the present B -> pi pi and B -> pi K data cannot be simultaneously described in the Standard Model. In a simple extension in which new physics enters dominantly through Z^0 penguins with a CP-violating phase, only certain B -> pi K modes are affected by new physics. The B -> pi pi data can then be described entirely within the Standard Model but with values of ha...

We discuss the theoretical interpretation of the $B\to\pi K$ system in the light of new data. Using the branching ratio and direct CP asymmetry of $B^0_d\to\pi^-K^+$, the picture of the direct CP violation in $B_d^0\to\pi^+\pi^-$ could be clarified: we predict $A_{CP}^{dir}(B_d\to\pi^+\pi^-)=-0.24\pm0.04$, which favours the BaBar measurement, and extract $\gamma=(70.0^{+3.8}_{-4.3})^\circ$, in agreement with the Standard-Model fits of the unitarity triangle. All $B\to\pi K$ m...

We show that any new physics (NP) which affects B decays with penguin contributions can be absorbed by redefinitions of the standard-model (SM) diagrammatic amplitudes. Hence, there are no clean signals of NP in such decays unless there is an accurate theoretical estimate of parameters or a justifiable approximation can be made. In all decays with penguin contributions, NP simultaneously affects pairs of diagrams. The evidence for a large C' from fits to B-> pi K data is natu...