Implications of the possibility that sin(2 beta) is small

Abstract

Recently, the Babar and Belle collaborations have reported their first measurements of the CP-violating asymmetry in Bd --> psi KS, and more precise results will follow soon. We discuss what a future evidence for small sin(2 beta) could mean, contrasting the usual possibility of new physics in the Bd system, with the interesting alternative that the new physics effects are confined to the kaon system.