Study of polarization in B→VT decays

In this paper, we examine B -> VT decays (V is a vector and T is a tensor meson), whose final-state particles can have transverse or longitudinal polarization. Measurements have been made of B ->phi K-2(*), and it is found that f(T)/f(L) is small, where f(T) (f(L)) is the fraction of transverse (longitudinal) decays. We find that the standard model naively predicts that f(T)/f(L) < 1. The two extensions of the naive standard model which have been proposed to explain the large f(T)/f(L) in B -> phi K-*-penguin annihilation and rescattering-make no firm predictions for the polarization in B ->phi K-2(*). The two new-physics scenarios, which explain the data in B -> pi K and the phi(rho)K-* polarization measurements, can reproduce the f(T)/f(L) data in B -> phi K-2(*) only if the B -> T form factors obey a certain hierarchy. Finally, we present the general angular analysis which can be used to get helicity information using two- and three-body decays.