The Forward-Backward Asymmetry of B to (pi,K) l^+ l^-: Supersymmetry at Work

D. A. Demir, Keith A. Olive, M. B. Voloshin

Published 2002-04-10, updated 2002-06-25Version 3

We analyze the forward-backward asymmetry of the decays B to (pi,K) l^+ l^- with l = mu or tau in the framework of the constrained minimal supersymmetric standard model. We find that, the asymmetry is enhanced at large tan beta and depends strongly on the sign of the mu parameter. For mu > 0, the asymmetry is typically large and observable whereas for mu < 0, it changes the sign and is suppressed by an order of magnitude. Including cosmological constraints we find that the asymmetry has a maximal value of about 30 %, produced when Higgs- and gauge- induced flavor violations are of comparable size, at a value of tan beta simeq 35. The present constraints from the B-factories are too weak to constrain parameter space, and the regions excluded by them are already disfavoured by at least one of B to X_s gamma, g-2, and/or cosmology. The size of the asymmetry is mainly determined by the flavor of the final state lepton rather than the flavor of the pseudoscalar.