COVARIANT TRACE FORMALISM FOR HEAVY MESON S-WAVE TO P-WAVE TRANSITIONS

Heavy meson, s- to p-wave, weak b-->c transitions are studied in the context of the heavy quark effective theory using covariant meson wave functions. We use the trace formalism to evaluate the weak transitions. As expected from heavy quark symmetry, the eight transitions between s- and p-wave states are described in terms of only two universal form factors which are given in terms of explicit wave function overlap integrals. We present our results in terms of both invariant and helicity amplitudes. Using our helicity amplitude expressions we discuss rate formulae, helicity structure functions and joint angular decay distributions in the decays BBAR-->D** (-->(D, D*) + pi) + W- (-->l- v(l)BAR). The heavy quark symmetry predictions for the one pion transitions D**-->(D, D*) + pi are similarly worked out by using trace techniques.