Comment on studying the corrections to factorization in B -> D(*) X

Zoltan Ligeti, Michael Luke, Mark B. Wise

Published 2001-03-01, updated 2001-03-08Version 2

We propose studying the mechanism of factorization in exclusive decays of the form B->D(*)X by examining the differential decay rate as a function of the invariant mass of the light hadronic state X. If factorization works primarily due to the large N_c limit then its accuracy is not expected to decrease as the X invariant mass increases. However, if factorization is mostly a consequence of perturbative QCD then the corrections should grow with the X invariant mass. Combining data for hadronic tau decays and semileptonic B decays allows tests of factorization to be made for a variety of final states. We discuss the examples of B->D^*\pi^+\pi^-\pi^-\pi^0 and B->D^*\omega\pi^-. The mode B->D^*\omega\pi^- will allow a precision study of the dependence of the corrections to factorization on the invariant mass of the light hadronic state.