Related papers: Large |Vub|: A challenge for the Minimal Flavour V…
We present the update of the Unitarity Triangle (UT) analysis within the Standard Model (SM) and beyond. Within the SM, combining the direct measurements on sides and angles, the UT turns out to be overconstraint in a consistent way,…
Rather than sticking to the full $U(3)^3$ approximate symmetry normally invoked in Minimal Flavour Violation, we analyze the consequences on the current flavour data of a suitably broken $U(2)^3$ symmetry acting on the first two generations…
Lepton Flavor Violating (LFV) observables such as $\mu\to e\gamma$, $\mu\to 3e$ and $\mu N \to eN$ are among the best probes for new physics at the TeV scale. In the near future the bounds on these observables will improve by many orders of…
A peculiar aspect of the MSSM, the simplest supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model, is that it is usually defined including an ad hoc symmetry, R-parity, whose sole purpose is to forbid rapid proton decay. This symmetry deeply…
During the last three decades the determination of the Unitarity Triangle (UT) was dominated by the measurements of its sides $R_b$ and $R_t$ through tree-level $B$ decays and the $\Delta M_d/\Delta M_s$ ratio, respectively, with some…
A global fit to quark flavour-physics data disfavours the Standard Model with 3.6 standard deviations and points towards new CP-violating physics in meson-antimeson mixing amplitudes. Tevatron data call for a new Bs-Bs-bar mixing phase and…
It is well known that the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) can enhance Br[B_{d,s}->mu^+ mu^-] by orders of magnitude, even if we assume the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix to be the only source of flavour violation. Of…
We present an extensive study of non-minimally flavour violating (NMFV) terms in the Lagrangian of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). We impose a variety of theoretical and experimental constraints and perform a detailed scan…
The minimum variability timescale (MVT) is a key observable used to probe the central engines of Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) by constraining the emission region size and the outflow Lorentz factor. However, its interpretation is often…
In this dissertation, the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) is studied as a low-energy theory stemming from the $SU(5)$ Grand Unified Theory (GUT). We investigate the possibility of satisfying the minimal $SU(5)$ boundary…
The commonly accepted notion of a weak unified coupling $\alpha_X \approx 0.04$, based on the assumption of the MSSM--spectrum, is questioned. It is suggested that the four--dimensional unified string coupling should very likely have an…
Based upon flavor SU(3) symmetry, we perform global fits to charmless B decays into one pseudoscalar meson and one vector meson in the final states. We consider different symmetry breaking schemes and find that the one implied by na{\"i}ve…
In recent years it has been learned that scalar superpartner masses and trilinear couplings should both generically be larger than about 20 TeV at the short distance string scale if our world is described by a compactified string or…
Unitarity is a fundamental property of any theory required to ensure we work in a theoretically consistent framework. In comparison with the quark sector, experimental tests of unitarity for the 3x3 neutrino mixing matrix are considerably…
We propose a realization of Minimal Flavor Violation in the lepton sector of the Randall-Sundrum model. With the MFV assumption, the only source of flavor violation are the 5D Yukawa couplings, and the usual two independent sources of…
Precision tests of the CKM mechanism and searches for new physics in the flavour sector require dedicated QCD calculations of decay widths and spectra. Significant progress has been achieved in recent years in computing inclusive B decay…
We derive general constraints on the mixing of heavy Seesaw neutrinos with the SM fields from a global fit to present flavour and electroweak precision data. We explore and compare both a completely general scenario, where the heavy…
We analyze lepton flavour violating transitions, leptonic magnetic dipole moments (MDMs) and electric dipole moments (EDMs) in a class of models characterized by the flavour symmetry A4 x Z3 x U(1)_{FN}, whose choice is motivated by the…
A new method for a precision measurement of the CKM matrix element |Vub| is discussed, which combines good theoretical control with high efficiency and a powerful discrimination against charm background. The resulting combined theoretical…
An overview of experimental determinations of different CKM elements is given with an emphasis on |Vub| and |Vcb| extraction. Measurements are compared to the Standard Model predictions and constraints on the unitarity triangle, arising…