Hunting for new physics in $B$ meson $b \to u$ transitions: A fresh look with Belle II data

Abstract

We present an analysis of the decays $B^- \to \ell^- {\bar \nu}_\ell$, $\bar B^0 \to \pi^+ \ell^- {\bar \nu}_\ell$, and $B^- \to \rho^0 \ell^- {\bar \nu}_\ell$ leveraging the precise measurements of binned differential branching fractions recently reported by the Belle II Collaboration for the semileptonic modes. We adopt a generalized low-energy Hamiltonian that incorporates all dimension-six operators with left-handed neutrinos -- consistent with the Standard Model effective field theory (SMEFT) -- featuring complex, lepton-flavor-dependent Wilson coefficients. For three representative values of $|V_{ub}|$, we perform a fit to the measured $q^2$-binned observables to constrain the coupling parameter space and determine the corresponding confidence regions. Finally, we perform a global fit for the three decay channels, determining $|V_{ub}|$ together with the new physics couplings.