Right-handed currents, CP Violation, and B->VV

Abstract

Precision CP violation measurements in rare hadronic B decays could provide clean signatures of parity symmetric new physics, implying the existence of SU(2)_L x SU(2)_R x U(1)_{B-L} x P symmetry at high energies. New contributions to the weak scale Hamiltonian which respect parity to O(1%) in supersymmetric realizations are compatible with an SU(2)_R breaking scale M_R \le M_GUT, implying that sensitivity to the GUT scale is possible. The generic case of right-handed currents without left-right symmetry is also discussed. A detailed analysis of B -> VV polarization in QCD factorization reveals that the low longitudinal polarization fraction f_L (phi K*) \approx 50% can be accounted for in the SM via a QCD penguin annihilation graph. The ratio of transverse rates (Gamma_\perp /Gamma_\parallel) provides a sensitive test for new right-handed currents. CP violation measurements in B -> VV decays can discriminate between new contributions to the dipole and four quark operators.