\(\etap K\) puzzle of B meson decays and new physics effects in the general two-Higgs-doublet model

Abstract

we calculate the new physics contributions to seven measured decays \(B \to \pi^+ \pi^-, K \pi\) and \( K \etap\) in the general two-Higgs-doublet model (Model III). Within the considered parameter space, we find that: (a) the CLEO/BaBar measurement of \(B\to \pi^+ \pi^-\) decay prefers a small \(F_0^{B\pi}(0)\): \(F_0^{B\pi}(0)=0.25 \pm 0.03\); (b) the new physics enhancements to the penguin-dominated \(B \to K\pi\) and \(B\to K \etap\) decays are significant in size, \(\sim (40-70)%\) \(w.r.t\) the standard model predictions; and (c) the new physics enhancements can boost the branching ratios \({\cal B}(B \to K^+ \etap)\) and \({\cal B}(B \to K^0 \etap)\) to be consistent with the data within one standard deviation, and hence lead to a simple and plausible new physics interpretation for the \(\etap K\) puzzle.