Right-Handed New Physics Remains Strangely Beautiful

Abstract

Current data on CP violation in B_d -> eta' K_S and B_d -> phi K_S, taken literally, suggest new physics contributions in b -> s transitions. Despite a claim to the contrary, we point out that right-handed operators with a single weak phase can account for both deviations thanks to the two-fold ambiguity in the extraction of the weak phase from the corresponding CP-asymmetry. This observation is welcome since large mixing in the right-handed sector is favored by many GUT models and frameworks which address the flavor puzzle. There are also interesting correlations with the B_s system which provide a way to test this scenario in the near future.

Comments: 7 pages, 9 figures; published version: added 1 reference and 1 clarification