Broken SU(3) Symmetry in Two-Body B Decays

The decays of $B$ mesons to two-body hadronic final states are analyzed within the context of broken flavor SU(3) symmetry, extending a previous analysis involving pairs of light pseudoscalars to decays involving one or two charmed quarks in the final state. A systematic program is described for learning information {}from decay rates regarding (i) SU(3)-violating contributions, (ii) the magnitude of exchange and annihilation diagrams (effects involving the spectator quark), and (iii) strong final-state interactions. The implication of SU(3)-breaking effects for the extraction of weak phases is also examined. The present status of data on these questions is reviewed and suggestions for further experimental study are made.