CP asymmetry in the angular distributions of τ → KSπντ decays. Part II. General effective field theory analysis

Abstract

Abstract In this work, we proceed to study the CP asymmetry in the angular distributions of τ → KSπντ decays within a general effective field theory framework including four-fermion operators up to dimension-six. It is found that, besides the commonly considered scalar-vector interference, the tensor-scalar interference can also produce a non-zero CP asymmetry in the angular distributions, in the presence of complex couplings. Using the dispersive representations of the Kπ form factors as inputs, and taking into account the detector efficiencies of the Belle measurement, we firstly update our previous SM predictions for the CP asymmetries in the same four Kπ invariant-mass bins as set by the Belle collaboration. Bounds on the effective couplings of the non-standard scalar and tensor interactions are then obtained under the combined constraints from the CP asymmetries measured in the four bins and the branching ratio of τ−→ KSπ−ντ decay, with the numerical results given respectively by $$ \operatorname{Im}\left[{\hat{\upepsilon}}_S\right] $$ Im ϵ ̂ S = −0.008 ± 0.027 and $$ \operatorname{Im}\left[{\hat{\upepsilon}}_T\right] $$ Im ϵ ̂ T = 0.03 ± 0.12, at the renormalization scale μτ = 2 GeV in the $$ \overline{\mathrm{MS}} $$ MS ¯ scheme. Using the best-fit values, we also find that the distributions of the CP asymmetries can deviate significantly from the SM expectation in almost the whole Kπ invariant-mass region. Nevertheless, the current bounds on $$ \operatorname{Im}\left[{\hat{\upepsilon}}_S\right] $$ Im ϵ ̂ S and $$ \operatorname{Im}\left[{\hat{\upepsilon}}_T\right] $$ Im ϵ ̂ T are still plagued by large experimental uncertainties, but will be improved with more precise measurements from the Belle II experiment as well as the proposed Tera-Z and STCF facilities. Assuming further that the non-standard scalar and tensor interactions originate from a weakly-coupled heavy new physics well above the electroweak scale, the SU(2)L invariance of the resulting SMEFT Lagrangian would indicate that very strong limits on $$ \operatorname{Im}\left[{\hat{\upepsilon}}_S\right] $$ Im ϵ ̂ S and $$ \operatorname{Im}\left[{\hat{\upepsilon}}_T\right] $$ Im ϵ ̂ T could also be obtained from the neutron electric dipole moment and the $$ {D}^0-{\overline{D}}^0 $$ D 0 − D ¯ 0 mixing. With the bounds from these processes taken into account, it is then found that, unless there exist extraordinary cancellations between the new physics contributions, neither the scalar nor the tensor interaction can produce any significant effects on the CP asymmetries (relative to the SM predictions) in the processes considered, especially under the “single coefficient dominance” assumption.