DIRECT CP VIOLATION IN LAMBDA(B)-]N(LAMBDA)PI(-) DECAYS VIA RHO-OMEGAMIXING - ART. NO. 096013()PI()

We study direct CP violation in the bottom baryon decays Lambda(b)-->f rho(0)(omega)-->f pi(+)pi(-) (f = n or Lambda). It is found that in t hese decays via rho-omega mixing the CP violation could be very large when the invariant mass of the pi(+)pi(-) pair is in the vicinity of t he omega resonance. With a typical value N-c = 2 in the factorization approach, the maximum CP-violating asymmetries are more than 50% and 6 8% for Lambda(b)-->n pi(+)pi(-) and Lambda(b)-->Lambda pi(+)pi(-), res pectively. With the aid of heavy quark symmetry and phenomenological m odels for the hadronic wave functions of Lambda(b), Lambda and the neu tron, we estimate the branching ratios of Lambda(b)-->n(Lambda)rho(0). [S0556-2821(98)06419-4].