Charmless $B \to VP$ Decays Using Flavor SU(3) Symmetry

The decays of $B$ mesons to a charmless vector ($V$) and pseudoscalar ($P$) meson are analyzed within a framework of flavor SU(3) in which symmetry breaking is taken into account through ratios of decay constants in tree ($T$) amplitudes. The magnitudes and relative phases of tree and penguin amplitudes are extracted from data; the symmetry assumption is tested; and predictions are made for rates and CP asymmetries in as-yet-unseen decay modes. A key assumption for which we perform some tests and suggest others is a relation between penguin amplitudes in which the spectator quark is incorporated into either a pseudoscalar meson or a vector meson. Values of $\gamma$ in the upper half of the range currently allowed by fits to other data are favored.