Estimating QCD-factorization amplitudes through SU(3) symmetry in $$B\rightarrow P P$$ decays

Abstract

AbstractWe estimate the potential size of the weak annihilation amplitudes in QCD factorization as allowed by experimental data. To achieve this goal, we establish a connection between the amplitudes in the QCD factorization and the so-called topological and SU(3)-invariant descriptions. Our approach is based purely on the analysis of the tensor structure of the decay amplitudes. By focusing on the processes $$B\rightarrow P P$$ B → P P and considering data from CP asymmetries and branching fractions, we perform a global fit to the SU(3)-irreducible quantities assuming minimal theoretical bias. Subsequently we translate the outcome to the QCD factorization decomposition, and find that the most constrained weak annihilation amplitudes are below 0.04. However, in view of the large uncertainties in several of the experimental input parameters, values up to $$\sim 0.3$$ ∼ 0.3 are allowed in certain cases.