title: Has new physics already been seen in B(d) meson decays?
abstract: We show in a model independent way that, within the standard model, the deviation in the measured B(d){0}-B[over](d){0} mixing phase caused by pollution from another amplitude is always less in magnitude, and has the same sign as, the weak phase of the polluting amplitude. The exception is to have large destructive interference between the two amplitudes: any deviation larger than a few degrees is only possible if the observed decay rate results from fine-tuned cancellations between significantly larger amplitudes. This is unlikely given our understanding of B decays. Even if the deviation reduces to a few degrees in the future, new physics would still likely be implied.
authors.affiliation: The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Taramani, Chennai 600113, India.
authors.forename: Rahul
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sinha
authors.forename: Basudha
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Misra
authors.forename: Wei-Shu
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Hou