Current-current operator contribution to the decay matrix in $B$-meson mixing at next-to-next-to-leading order of QCD

Abstract

We compute next-to-next-to-leading order perturbative corrections to the decay width difference of mass eigenstates and the charge-parity asymmetry $a_{\mathrm{fs}}$ in flavour-specific decays of neutral $B$ mesons. In our calculation we take into account the full dependence on the charm and bottom quark masses for the current-current operator contributions up to three-loop order. Special emphasis is put on the proper construction of the so-called $|\hat{I}”B|=2$ theory such that Fierz symmetry is preserved. We provide updated phenomenological predictions, for $\hat{I}”\hat{I}“$, $\hat{I}”\hat{I}“/\hat{I}”M$ and $a_{\mathrm{fs}}$ for the $B_d$ and $B_s$ system, including a detailed analysis of the uncertainties of our predictions. The calculated NNLO correction reduce the perturbative uncertainty of the leading term of the $1/m_b$ expansion of the width difference $\dg_s$ in the $B_s$ system to the level of the current experimental error. The uncertainty of our prediction $\dg_s=({0.077}\pm 0.016)\,\mbox{ps}^{-1}$ is dominated by the sub-leading term of this expansion. We further illustrate how better future measurements of $\dg_d$ and $a_{\mathrm{fs}}^d$ will help to gain a better understanding of $B_d$-${\bar{B}}_d$ mixing.

59 pages