Related papers: The Evaluation of V_{ud}, Experiment and Theory
The angle gamma of the standard CKM unitarity triangle can be determined from B -> D K decays with a very small irreducible theoretical error, which is only due to second-order electroweak corrections. We study these contributions and…
If CP violation in the decays of neutral kaons is due to phases in the weak couplings of quarks, as encoded in the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix, there are many other experimental consequences. Notable among these are CP-violating…
Using a technique that is not subject to first-order SU(3) symmetry breaking effects, we determine the $V_{us}$ element of the CKM matrix from data on semileptonic hyperon decays. We obtain $V_{us}$ =0.2250(27). This value is of similar…
Hadronic tau decays provide several ways to extract the Cabbibo-Kobashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix element V_{us}. The most precise determination involves using inclusive tau decays and requires as input the total branching ratio into strange…
Using an effective field theory approach, we study the new physics (NP) corrections to muon and beta decays and their effects on the extractions of V_ud and V_us. Assuming nearly flavor blind NP interactions we find that the CKM-unitarity…
The first direct, model-independent measurement is presented of the modulus of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix elements $|V_\mathrm{tb}|$, $|V_\mathrm{td}|$, and $|V_\mathrm{ts}|$, in final states enriched in single top quark…
We present a measurement of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix element |Vcb| using a 10.2 fb^{-1} data sample recorded at the \Upsilon(4S) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric e^+e^- storage ring. By…
During the last few years, new experimental and theoretical results have allowed ever-more-stringent tests of the Standard Model to be performed using kaon decays. This overview of recent progress includes updated results for the evaluation…
We extract the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix element $V_{cb}$ from the exclusive decays of $\Lambda_b\to \Lambda_c\ell\bar \nu_\ell$ and $\Lambda_b\to \Lambda_c M_{(c)}$ with $M=(\pi^-,K^-)$ and $M_c=(D^-,D^-_s)$, where the branching…
In recent years a number of correlation measurements in nuclear $\beta$ decay have been performed reaching a precision of the order of 1\% and below and it is expected that even higher precision will be reached in the near future. At these…
We present a technique for estimating the number of future neutrinoless double-beta decay results using several distinct nuclei to optimize the physics reach of upcoming experiments. We use presently available matrix element calculations…
The CKM matrix elements $V_{td}$, $V_{ts}$ and $V_{tb}$, while notoriously hard to measure directly in experiment, can be determined to great precision within the Standard Model (SM) with a minimal set of observables due to unitarity of…
Precision tests of first-row unitarity of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix currently display two intriguing tensions, both at the $3\sigma$ level. First, combining determinations of $V_{ud}$ from superallowed $\beta$ decays with…
Compelling evidences in favor of neutrino masses and mixing obtained in the last years in Super-Kamiokande, SNO, KamLAND and other neutrino experiments made the physics of massive and mixed neutrinos a frontier field of research in particle…
The recent results of the PIBETA experiment strongly suggest the presence of a non-(V-A) anomalous interaction in the radiative pion decay. The same interaction should inevitably contribute to the neutron decay and in particular it should…
The hadronic ($\Gamma^{\rm W}_{\rm had}$) and total ($\Gamma^{\rm W}_{\rm tot}$) widths of the W boson, computed at least at next-to-next-to-leading-order (NNLO) accuracy, are combined to derive a new precise prediction for the hadronic W…
We review the status of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix elements and the CP-violating phases in the CKM-unitarity triangle. The emphasis in these lecture notes is on $B$-meson physics, though we also review the current status and…
With more intense sources of cold and ultracold neutrons becoming available and with improved experimental techniques being developed, determination of |Vud| from neutron beta decay with a similar precision to that from from superallowed…
The experimental prospects for precise measurements of the leptonic decays B_u -> tau nu / mu nu, B_s -> mu+ mu-, D -> mu nu and D_s -> mu nu / tau nu are very promising. Double ratios involving four of these decays can be defined in which…
The influence of nucleon-nucleon short-ranged correlations (SRC) on nuclear super-allowed $\beta$ decay is examined. The need for this is driven by the observed depletion of spectroscopic strength obtained in studies of $(e,e')$ and…