We study the decay B− → DK*− using a sample of 379 x 106?(4S) → B{bar B} events collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II B-factory. We perform a 'GLW' analysis where the D meson decays into either a CP-even (CP+) eigenstate (KK−,?+?−), CP-odd (CP- ) eigenstate (K{sub S}°?°, K{sub S}°?, K{sub S}°?) or a non-CP state (K−?+). We also analyze D meson decays into K+?− from a Cabibbo-favored {bar D}° decay or doubly suppressed D° decay ('ADS' analysis). We measure observables that are sensitive to the CKM angle?: the partial-rate charge asymmetries A{sub CP±}, the ratios R{sub CP±} of the B-decay branching fractions in CP± and non-CP decay, the ratio R{sub ADS} of the charge-averaged branching fractions, and the charge asymmetry A{sub ADS} of the ADS decays: A{sub CP+} = 0.09 ± 0.13 ± 0.06, A{sub CP-} = -0.23 ± 0.21 ± 0.07, R{sub CP+} = 2.17 ± 0.35 ± 0.09, R{sub CP-} = 1.03 ± 0.27 ± 0.13, R{sub ADS} = 0.066 ± 0.031 ± 0.010, and A{sub ADS} = -0.34 {+-} 0.43 {+-} 0.16, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic. Combining all the measurements and using a frequentist approach yields the magnitude of the ratio between the Cabibbo-suppressed and favored amplitudes, r{sub B} = 0.31 with a one (two) sigma confidence level interval of [0.24, 0.38] ([0.17, 0.43]). The value r{sub B} = 0 is excluded at the 3.3 sigma level. A similar analysis excludes values of? in the intervals [0, 7]{sup o}, [55, 111]{sup o}, and [175, 180]{sup o} ([85, 99]{sup o}) at the one (two) sigma confidence level.

This thesis describes a high-quality, high-precision method for the data analysis of an interesting elementary particle reaction. The data was collected at the Japanese B-meson factory KEKB with the Belle detector, one of the most successful large-scale experiments worldwide. CP violation is a subtle quantum effect that makes the world look different when simultaneously left and right and matter and antimatter are exchanged. This being a prerequisite for our own world to have developed from the big bang, there are only a few experimental indications of such effects, and their detection requires very intricate techniques. The discovery of CP violation in B meson decays garnered Kobayashi and Maskawa, who had predicted these findings as early as 1973, the 2008 Nobel prize in physics. This thesis describes in great detail what are by far the best measurements of branching ratios and CP violation parameters in two special reactions with two charm mesons in the final state. It presents an in-depth but accessible overview of the theory, phenomenology, experimental setup, data collection, Monte Carlo simulations, (blind) statistical data analysis, and systematic uncertainty studies.

This thesis reports on the final measurement of the flavor-mixing phase in decays of strange-bottom mesons (B_s) into J/psi and phi mesons performed in high-energy proton-antiproton collisions recorded by the Collider Experiment at Fermilab. Interference occurs between direct decays and decays following virtual particle-antiparticle transitions (B_s-antiB_s). The phase difference between transition amplitudes (“mixing phase”) is observable and extremely sensitive to contributions from non-standard-model particles or interactions that may be very hard to detect otherwise – a fact that makes the precise measurement of the B_s mixing phase one of the most important goals of particle physics. The results presented include a precise determination of the mixing phase and a suite of other important supplementary results. All measurements are among the most precise available from a single experiment and provide significantly improved constraints on the phenomenology of new particles and interactions.

We search for CP violation in a sample of 4.7 x 104 singly Cabibbo suppressed D0 2!K+ K- [pi]+[pi]- decays and 1.8(2.6) x 104 D(s)+ 2!KS0 K+ [pi]+ [pi]- decays. CP violation is searched for in the difference between the T-odd asymmetries, obtained using triple product correlations, measured for D and D decays. The measured CP violation parameters are AT(D0) = (1.0 ± 5.1(stat) ± 4.4(syst)) x 10-3, AT(D+) = ( -11.96 ± 10.04(stat) ± 4.81(syst)) x 10-3 and AT(Ds+) = ( -13.57 ± 7.67(stat) ± 4.82(syst)) x 10-3. This search for CP violation showed that the T-odd correlations are a powerful tool to measure the CP violating observable AT. The relative simplicity of an analysis based on T-odd correlations and the high quality results that can be obtained, allow to consider this tool as fundamental to search for CP violation in four-body decays. Even if the CP violation has not been found, excluding any New Physics effect to the sensitivity of about 0.5%, it is still worth to search for CP violation in D decays. The high statistics that can be obtained at the LHC or by the proposed high luminosity B-factories, make this topic to be considered in high consideration by experiments such as LHCb, SuperB or SuperBelle. The results outlined in this thesis strongly suggest to include a similar analysis into the Physics program of these experiments.