Hadronic rescattering to solve helicity puzzle in $B^{+}\to p\bar{p}{\pi }^{+}(K^{+})$ decays

Abstract

We explore the contribution of hadronic final state interactions (FSI) to propose a production mechanism and interpret the puzzle on helicity angle distributions in $B^{+}\to p\bar{p}{\pi }^{+}$ and $B^{+}\to p\bar{p}{K}^{+}$ decays. Experimental results indicate opposite helicity angle ${\theta }_p$ distributions in those two channels with the difference presenting a remarkable linear dependence on $\cos {\theta }_p$. We assume the production mechanism is driven by $B^{+}\to xy{m}^{+}\to p\bar{p}{m}^{+}$, where $m=\pi$ or $K$, and $xy$ represents favorable mesonic decay channels producing $p\bar{p}$. We develop a model that includes three-body final state interaction between the $p,\bar{p}$ and ${\pi }^{+}$ or $K^{+}$ considering the dominance of elastic channels ${\pi }^{+}p$ and $K^{+}\bar{p}$ interactions below 2\,GeV/c${}^2$. Our three-body framework with FSI explains qualitatively the observed opposite behavior of the helicity distributions and the observed linearity.

Comments: 10 figures