``Non-factorizable'' terms in hadronic B-meson weak decays

Abstract

The branching ratios for the hadronic B-meson weak decays B -> J/psi K and B -> D pi are used to extract the size of the ``non-factorizable'' terms in the decay amplitudes. It is pointed out that the solutions are not uniquely determined. In the B -> J/psi K case, a 2-fold ambiguity can be removed by analyzing the contribution of this decay to B -> K l+ l-. In the B -> D pi case, a 4-fold ambiguity can only be removed if the ``non-factorizable'' terms are assumed to be a small correction to the vacuum insertion result.