Pure annihilation decay $B_c^+ \to ST$ with improved perturbative QCD formalism

Abstract

We study the pure annihilation decay $B_c^+ \to ST$ for the first time in the standard model with $S$ and $T$ representing the states of the light scalar ($1^3\!P_0$) and tensor ($1^3\!P_2$) correspondingly. Utilizing the assignment $q\bar q$ for light scalars with two-scenarios classification, we calculate the branching ratios of $B_c^+ \to ST$ with the improved perturbative QCD (iPQCD) formalism at leading order in the strong coupling $α_s$. The large branching ratios around $10^{-6}$ within uncertainties in the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa-favored channels, such as $B_c^+ \to a_0(1450) a_2(1320)$, $B_c^+ \to a_0(980, 1450)^+ f_2(1270)$, $B_c^+ \to K_0^*(700, 1430) K_2^*(1430)$, and $B_c^+ \to f_0(500, 1370, 1500) a_2(1320)^+$, are obtained in the iPQCD formalism, which would be tested at the Large Hadron Collider-beauty detector in the (near) future. The relevant tests to these theoretical predictions of large branching ratios associated with typical relative ratios could provide important opportunities for understanding the QCD dynamics of the involved modes or light scalars, as well as for exploring the reliability of the iPQCD formalism. Moreover, the direct charge-parity violating asymmetries in the decay $B_c^+ \to ST$ are naturally zero, since only tree-diagram contributions are involved.