Spontaneous CP violation and the B0 system

We investigate the effects of spontaneous breakdown of CP in B-d,s(0)-B-d,s(0) systems in left-right symmetric models. Assuming that the left-right contribution to the B-0-(B-0) over bar matrix element M-12 can be at most equal to the standard model one we obtain a new lower bound, M-H greater than or similar to 12 TeV, on the flavour-changing Higgs boson mass. Most importantly, the convention independent parameter Re(<(epsilon)over bar>(B)), which measures the amount of Delta B = 2 CP violation, can be enhanced by a factor of four or more for B-d(0) and almost by two orders of magnitude for B-s(0) systems when compared with the Standard Model predictions. Therefore, interesting possibilities to observe indirect CP violation in the B system are open in the planned facilities. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.