Related papers: QCD Calculations of Decays of Heavy Flavor Hadrons
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…
I give an introduction to the QCD-based theory of the heavy flavor hadrons and their weak decays. Trying to remain at the next-to-elementary level and skip technicalities, I concentrate on the qualitative description of the most important…
The decays B^+ --> D^{*+}_s gamma and B^+ --> D^{*+} gamma can be used for an extraction of |V_{ub}|. When the b and c quarks are nearly degenerate the rate for these modes can be determined in terms of other observed rates, namely B\bar{B}…
The top quark sector is almost decoupled from lighter quark generations due to the fact that $V_{tb}\approx$~1. The current experimental measurements of $V_{tb}$ are compatible with the Standard Model expectations but are still dominated by…
We determine the inclusive B --> Xc l nu branching fraction, the CKM matrix element |Vcb|, and other heavy-quark parameters from a simultaneous fit to moments of the hadronic-mass and lepton-energy distributions in semileptonic B-meson…
I review new results on particles containing a charm or bottom quark, focusing on measurements that give insight into the dynamics of the decay process. Leptonic and semileptonic decays are the simplest modes, and they provide detailed…
The total B->Xs gamma decay rate and the CKM-matrix element Vub play an important role in finding indirect evidence for new physics affecting the flavor sector of the Standard Model, complementary to direct searches at the LHC and Tevatron.…
We present updated and comprehensive Standard Model predictions for the inclusive rare decay $B \to X_s \nu\bar{\nu}$. Using a state-of-the-art determination of the short-distance coefficient, including NLO QCD and electroweak effects, and…
These lectures review some of the progress made in the quantitative understanding of B decays. The emphasis here is on applications of QCD using perturbative and non-perturbative techniques. In some cases, however, phenomenological models…
The interpretation of the recent observation by LHCb of a heavy-flavor-conserving and strangeness-changing decay $\Xi_b^- \to \Lambda_b \pi^-$ in terms of the branching fraction for the decay suffers from the uncertainty in the yield of the…
A measurement of the hadron energy spectrum in inclusive semileptonic $B$ decays is proposed as a viable method for extracting $|V_{ub}|$. Compared to the traditional energy spectrum of the charged lepton, the hadron energy spectrum…
Bauer, Ligeti and Luke have recently proposed a new method for measuring |V_{ub}| in inclusive semileptonic B decays, using a cut on the lepton invariant mass to discriminate against b->c transitions. We investigate the structure of the…
The present status of lattice calculations of f_B, B_B and SU(3) flavour breaking ratios such as f_Bs/f_B is reviewed. Particular attention is devoted to systematic uncertainties, such as those arising from the lack of simulation data for…
Lattice QCD calculations of hadronic matrix elements allow one to draw inferences about quark flavor interactions from measurements of hadron decays. Within the context of the Standard Model, the magnitude of the charm-bottom quark coupling…
Lattice QCD calculations in charm and bottom physics are particularly important because they can provide the hadronic weak decay matrix elements needed for key constraints on the CKM Unitarity Triangle. I will summarise recent results in…
We calculate the electron spectrum of semileptonic decays of B-mesons into non-charmed hadrons. The shape of the spectrum obtained from QCD sum rules is in general agreement with quark model calculations. At high electron energies the…
Inclusive heavy-flavour decays can be described through $1/m_Q$ expansions derived from QCD with the help of an operator product expansion. I sketch their methodology and apply them first to semileptonic B decays; $|V(cb)|$ can be extracted…
This is a short review of the present status of the dynamics of the heavy quarks extracted from QCD spectral sum rules. We discuss the determination of the ``perturbative" quark mass, the decay constants of the $D$ and $B$ mesons, the form…
Rare $B$-meson decays, suppressed in the Standard Model (SM) by the GIM mechanism, are sensitive probes of new physics. In particular, loop-level $b \to s$ transitions can reveal effects of heavy virtual particles such as vector-like quarks…
The element |V_{ub}| of the quark mixing matrix can be extracted with small theoretical uncertainties by combining weighted integrals over the endpoint regions of the lepton spectrum in B -> X_u l nu decays and the photon spectrum in B ->…