CP violation in the interference between $\rho(770)^0$ and $S$-wave in $B^\pm\to \pi^+ \pi^-\pi^\pm$ decays and its implication for CP asymmetry in $B^\pm\to \rho^0\pi^\pm$

Abstract

The decay amplitude analyses of $B^\pm\to \pi^+ \pi^-\pi^\pm$ decays in the Dalitz plot performed by LHCb indicate that CP asymmetry for the dominant quasi-two-body decay $B^\pm\to\rho(770)^0\pi^\pm$ was found to be consistent with zero in all three approaches for the $S$-wave component and that CP-violation effects related to the interference between the $\rho(770)^0$ resonance and the $S$-wave were clearly observed. We show that the nearly vanishing CP violation in $B^\pm\to\rho^0\pi^\pm$ is understandable within the framework of QCD factorization. There are two $1/m_b$ power corrections, one from penguin annihilation and the other from hard spectator interactions. They contribute destructively to $A_{CP}(B^\pm\to\rho^0\pi^\pm)$ to render it compatible with zero, in contrast to the sizable negative CP asymmetry predicted in most of the existing models. We next show that the measured interference pattern between the $\rho$ and $S$-wave contributions in the low $m_{\pi^+\pi^-}$ region separated by the sign of value of $\cos\theta$ with $\theta$ being the angle between the two same charged pions measured in the rest frame of the $\rho$ resonance can be explained in terms of the smallness of $A_{CP}(B^+\to\rho^0\pi^+)$ and the interference between $\rho(770)$ and $\sigma/f_0(500)$. If CP asymmetry in $B^\pm\to\rho^0\pi^\pm$ is not negligible as predicted in many existing models, the observed interference pattern will be destroyed. We conclude that the experimental observation of the interference pattern between $P$- and $S$-waves in the low-$m_{\pi^+\pi^-}$ region between 0.5 and 1.0 GeV is consistent with a nearly vanishing CP violation in $B^\pm\to\rho^0\pi^\pm$.