The Riddle of Polarization in $B\to VV$ Transitions

Abstract

Measurements of polarization fractions in $B\to VV$ transitions, with $V$ a light vector meson, show that the longitudinal amplitude dominates in $B^0\to \ddot{I}{}^{+}\ddot{I}{}^{-}$, $B^{+}\to \ddot{I}{}^{+}\ddot{I}{}^0$, and $B^{+}\to \ddot{I}{}^0{K}^{\ast +}$ decays and not in the penguin induced decays $B^0\to \ddot{I}•K^{\ast 0}$, $B^{+}\to \ddot{I}•K^{\ast +}$. We study the effect of rescattering mediated by charmed resonances, finding that in $B\to \ddot{I}•K^{\ast }$ it can be responsible of the suppression of the longitudinal amplitude. For the decay $B\to \ddot{I}K^{\ast }$ we find that the longitudinal fraction cannot be too large without invoking new effects.

LaTex, 14 pages, 3 figures