CP VIOLATION IN THE CABBIBO-SUPPRESSED DECAY TAU-]K-PI-NU(TAU) WITH POLARIZED TAU-LEPTONS

CP violation from physics beyond the Standard Model (SM) is investigat ed in the Cabbibo-suppressed decay tau --> K pi nu(tau) with polarized tau leptons, to which both the J(P) = 1(-) resonance K and the J(P) = 0(+) resonance K-0 contribute. In addition to the CP-odd rate asymm etry, tau polarization enables us to construct three additional CP-odd polarization asymmetries that can be enhanced due to the interference between the K and K-0*, and whose magnitudes depend crucially on the K-0 decay constant, f(K0)*. Taking a QCD sum rule estimate of f(K0*) = 45 MeV and the present experimental constraints on the CP-odd param eters into account, we estimate quantitatively the maximally-allowed v alues for the CP-odd rate and polarization asymmetries in the multi-Hi ggs-doublet (MHD) model and the scalar-leptoquark (SLQ) models consist ent with the SM gauge symmetry where neutrinos are massless and left-h anded as in the SM. We find that the CP-odd rate and polarization asym metries are of a similar size for highly-polarized tau leptons and, fo r their maximally-allowed values, CP violation in the MHD model and tw o SLQ models may be detected with about 10(6) and 10(7) tau's at the 1 sigma level. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.