HERA-B: Physics Potential and Prospects

HERA-B is a hadroproduction experiment located at DESY in Hamburg, Germany. The experiment produces B mesons and baryons by inserting thin wire targets into the halo of the proton beam circulating in the HERA storage ring. The B decays are studied to search for evidence of CP violation and constrain the angle $\beta$ and possibly $\gamma$ and $\alpha$ of the CKM unitarity triangle. The experiment also produces B_s mesons; these decays are studied to measure or constrain the mass difference $\Delta m_s$ and width difference $\Delta\Gamma_s$ between the two $B^0_s/\bar{B}_s^0$ mass eigenstates. Finally, the large number of B's produced allows HERA-B to search for rare and forbidden decays such as $B\to K^{(*)}\ell^+_1\ell^-_2$. The experiment is scheduled to begin running in early 2000.