Global determination of two-meson distribution amplitudes from three-body $B$ decays in the perturbative QCD approach

Abstract

We perform a global analysis of three-body charmless hadronic decays $B\to VP_3\to P_1P_2P_3$ in the perturbative QCD (PQCD) approach, where $V$ denotes an intermediate vector resonance, and $P_i$, $i=1,2,3$, denote final-state pseudoscalar mesons. Fitting the PQCD factorization formulas at leading order in the strong coupling $\alpha_s$ to measured branching ratios and direct $CP$ asymmetries, we determine the Gegenbauer moments in the two-meson distribution amplitudes (DAs) for the meson pairs $P_1P_2=\pi\pi, K\pi, KK$. The fitted Gegenbauer moments are then employed to make predictions for those observables, whose data are excluded in the fit due to larger experimental uncertainties. A general consistency between our predictions and data is achieved, which hints the validity of the PQCD formalism for the above three-body $B$ meson decays and the universality of the nonperturbative two-meson DAs. The obtained two-meson DAs can be applied to PQCD studies of other multi-body $B$ meson decays involving the same meson pairs. We also attempt to determine the dependence of the Gegenbauer moments on the meson-pair invariant mass, and demonstrate that this determination is promising, when data become more precise.