Angular distributions and lifetime differences in $B_s\to J/\psi \varphi$ decays

Abstract

The strange $B$ meson $B_s\equiv \bar{b}s$ and its charge-conjugate ${\bar{B}}_s\equiv b\bar{s}$ are expected to mix with one another in such a way that the mass eigenstates $B_s^H$ (``heavy'') and $B_s^L$ (``light'') may have a perceptible lifetime difference of up to 40\%, with the CP-even eigenstate being shorter-lived. A simple transversity analysis permits one to separate the CP-even and CP-odd components of $B_s\to J/\psi \varphi$, and thus to determine the lifetime difference. The utility of a similar analysis for $B^0\to J/\psi K^{\ast 0}$ is noted.

Comments: 10 pages, latex, no figures