CP violation in the top-quark system through light squarks

Abstract

We study a decay rate asymmetry of the top quark in the supersymmetric standard model, taking into account the constraints from the electric dipole moments of the neutron and the electron. One CP-violating phase contained in the mass-squared matrices of squarks and sleptons is allowed to have an unsuppressed value, even if their masses are of order 100 GeV. Sizable $CP$ violation could then occur in the production and decay of the top quark through interactions with top squarks. The asymmetry between the widths for the decays $t\to bW^+$ and $\bar t\to \bar bW^-$ can be of order $10^{-3}$, which will possibly be detectable in the near future.