Tests of the standard model and search for new physics using flavor

Abstract

The vast amount of flavor physics data available to date allows probing the presence of physics beyond the standard model through precision measurements of CP violating and CP conserving processes involving B, D, and K mesons. The information extracted from these measurements allows the characterization of physics beyond the standard model in a complementary way with respect to the direct searches at the Tevatron and the LHC. We review the status of the search for new physics with flavor-related observables. We discuss the status of the unitarity triangle analysis beyond the standard model: the inclusion of the recent measurements of Bs decays from the Tevatron experiments point to a discrepancy from the standard model expectation. In addition, we discuss the impact of $O(\Lambda_{QCD}/m_b)$ corrections to the perturbative calculation of charmless hadronic B decays. These corrections can explain the puzzling values of direct CP asymmetries in B→Kπ decays within the standard model. These corrections cannot explain values of sin2β lower than the standard model value, as observed in b→s penguin decays. We conclude with the perspectives of the next generation of flavor-physics experiments, the precision they can reach and their phenomenological impact