Isospin-based EWP-tree Relations

In 1998, it was shown that, if flavor SU(3) symmetry [SU(3)$_F$] is assumed in charmless $B \to PP$ decays ($P$ is a light pseudoscalar meson), some reduced matrix elements involving electroweak penguin (EWP) operators are related to those involving tree operators. Similarly, EWP diagrams are related to tree diagrams. These SU(3)$_F$ EWP-tree relations were recently used in global analyses of $B \to PP$ decays. They have also been used over the years in analyses of the $B \to \pi K$ puzzle, even though the $B \to \pi K$ amplitudes are related by isospin symmetry [SU(2)$_I$], and not the full SU(3)$_F$. In this paper, we show that, even if only SU(2)$_I$ is assumed, there are still EWP-tree relations. In $\Delta S=0$ decays, these relations are similar to those of SU(3)$_F$, and can be used to take into account the EWP contributions in the extraction of the CP phase $\alpha$ from $B \to \pi\pi$ decays. In $\Delta S=1$ decays, the SU(2)$_I$ EWP-tree relations are quite different from those of SU(3)$_F$; when these are used to analyze the $B \to \pi K$ puzzle, one now finds a 4-5$\sigma$ discrepancy with the Standard Model, much larger than what was previously found. We argue that, if one analyzes a set of hadronic $B$ decays whose amplitudes are related by isospin, one must use the SU(2)$_I$ EWP-tree relations for that set of decays in the analysis.