Critical study of B decays to light pseudoscalars

Motivated by the large branching ratios observed for the process B --> eta'K, we examine critically all the ingredients that go into estimates of B decays into two light pseudoscalars. Within the factorization approximation, we examine several assumptions on the input parameters that could have a strong bearing on the predictions. Among these are (i) the QCD scale mu, (ii) value of the form factors, (iii) value of the light quark masses, and in particular m(s), (iv) the value xi = 1/N-c, and (v) charm content of eta'. It is possible to account for all the data without invoking new physics, though future experiments will provide tighter constraints on the parameter space. We find that CP violating asymmetries are in the observable range for some modes.