Study of the decay mechanism for B+ -> p(p)over-barK(+) and B+ -> p(p)over-bar pi(+)

We study the characteristics of the low mass p (p) over bar enhancements near threshold in the three-body decays B+ -> p (p) over barK(+) and B+ -> p (p) over bar pi(+). We observe that the proton polar angle distributions in the p (p) over bar helicity frame in the two decays have the opposite polarity, and measure the forward-backward asymmetries as a function of the p mass for the p (p) over barK(+) mode. We also search for the intermediate two-body decays, B+ -> (p) over bar Delta(++) and B+ -> p (Delta) over bar (0), and set upper limits on their branching fractions. These results are obtained from a 414 fb(-1) data sample that contains 449 x 10(6) B (B) over bar events collected near the Gamma(4S) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e(+)e(-) collider. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.