Paper detail

Phenomenology with a non-zero B_s decay width difference

The experimentally established non-zero decay width difference of the B_s meson system gives us access to a mass eigenstate rate asymmetry for each B_s transition. This observable is not only the key ingredient in converting between differing definitions of a B_s branching ratio, but can also be a sensitive probe of New Physics that does not require flavour tagging. We discuss how a pair of effective lifetimes for CP even and odd final states, which probe this asymmetry, can constrain the parameters of B_s mixing. We then shift our focus to the rare decay B_s to mu+ mu-, for which the Standard Model branching ratio prediction receives a sizable correction due to a maximal asymmetry. We present how this asymmetry, which can be extracted from an untagged time-dependent measurement, serves as a new observable, complementary to the branching ratio, for constraining New Physics. Further, we analyse types of models beyond the Standard Model that this pair of observables for B_s to mu+ mu- can discriminate between.