Weak phase alpha from B^0-> a_1^{+-}(1260) pi^{-+}

Abstract

Quasi two-body decays B^0(t)-> a_1^{+-}(1260) pi^{-+} identified by four charged pions determine a phase alpha_eff, which is equal to the weak phase alpha in the limit of vanishing penguin amplitudes. Applying flavor SU(3) to these decays and to B->a_1 K and B->K_1 pi, with K_1 an admixture of K_1(1270) and K_1(1400), we derive expressions providing bounds on alpha-alpha_{eff}. Higher precision in alpha may be achieved by an overall fit to a complete set of SU(3) related measurements. A method is sketched applying isospin symmetry to time-dependent invariant mass distributions in B->pi^+ pi^- pi^0 pi^0.