CP VIOLATION AND STRONG PHASES FROM PENGUINS IN B-+/--]PP AND B-+/--]VP DECAYS

We calculate direct CP-violating rate asymmetries in charged B --> PP and B --> VP decays arising from the interference of amplitudes with different strong and CKM phases. The perturbative strong phases develop at order alpha(s) from absorptive parts of one-loop matrix elements of the next-to-leading logarithm corrected effective Hamiltonian. CPT constraints are maintained. Based on this model, we find that partial rate asymmetries between charge conjugate B-+/- decays can be as high as 20% for certain channels with branching ratios in the 10(-6) range. Because the c (c) over bar threshold lies so close to the physical momentum scale, the asymmetries depend sensitively on the model assumptions used to evaluate the imaginary parts of the matrix elements, in particular, on the internal momentum transfer. The charge asymmetries of partial rates would provide unambiguous evidence for direct CP violation.