Revisiting rescattering contributions to $\overline{B}_{(s)}\to D^{(*)}_{(s)} M$ decays

TL;DR

This paper investigates whether final-state rescattering effects can explain discrepancies in B meson decay rates, finding that such effects alone are insufficient and that a modest new physics contribution to the Wilson coefficient is favored.

Contribution

The study provides a comprehensive analysis of rescattering effects in B decays and demonstrates the necessity of considering new physics contributions to explain experimental data.

Findings

Rescattering effects cannot fully account for observed decay rates.

Global fits suggest a ~10% downward shift in the Wilson coefficient a_1.

New physics contributions are mildly preferred by the data.

Abstract

Motivated by the reported discrepancies between experimental data and Standard Model predictions for the branching ratios of the color-allowed decays $\overline{B}^0 \to D^{(*)+}K^-$ and $\overline{B}^0_s \to D^{(*)+}_s \pi^-$, we study final-state rescattering effects on $\overline{B}_{(s)}\to D^{(*)}_{(s)} P$ and $\overline{B}_{(s)}\to D_{(s)} V$, where $P$ ($V$) is a light pseudoscalar (vector) meson. We consider quasi-elastic rescatterings in the framework of $SU(3)$ and $U(3)$ flavor symmetries, and find that the effects cannot explain the measured branching ratios of the color-allowed and color-suppressed decays simultaneously. We also perform global fits to the $\overline{B}_{(s)}\to D^{(*)}_{(s)} P$ and $\overline{B}_{(s)}\to D_{(s)} V$ data, allowing for new physics contributions to the Wilson coefficient $a_1$ associated with the color-allowed tree amplitudes. It is shown that the fits prefer a downward shift of $\mathcal{O}(10\%)$ in $a_1$ even in the presence of the quasi-elastic rescattering contributions.