Direct CP-violation in untagged B-meson decays

Direct CP-violation can exist in untagged, neutral B-meson decays to certain self-conjugate. hadronic final states. It can occur if the resonances which appear therein permit the identification of distinct, CP-conjugate states-in analogy to stereochemistry, we term such states "CP-enantiomers". These states permit the construction of a CP-odd amplitude combination in the untagged decay rate, which is non-zero if direct CP-violation is present. The decay B --> pi(+)pi(-)pi(0), containing the distinct CP-conjugate states rho(+)pi(-) and rho(-)pi(+), provides one such example of a CP-enantiomeric pair. We illustrate the possibilities in various multiparticle final states. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.