Conceptual aspects of QCD factorization in hadronic B decays

I review the meaning of ``QCD factorization'' in hadronic two-body B decays and then discuss recent results of theoretical (rather than phenomenological) nature: the proof of factorization at two loops; the identification of ``chirally enhanced'' power corrections; and the role of annihilation contributions.Comment: 10 pages, LaTeX. Based on talks presented at the UK Phenomenology Workshop on Heavy Flavour and CP Violation, 17 - 22 September 2000, Durham, proceedings to appear in J. Phys. G; the 5th International Symposium on Radiative Corrections (RADCOR2000), Carmel, California, September 11 - 15, 2000; the 4th Workshop on Continuous Advances in QCD, Minneapolis, 12-14 May 2000; the Vth International Workshop on Heavy Quark Physics, Dubna, 6-8 April 200

Next-to-next-to-leading soft-gluon corrections for the top quark cross section and transverse momentum distribution

I present results for top quark production in hadronic collisions at LHC and Tevatron energies. The soft-gluon corrections to the differential cross section are resummed at next-to-next-to-leading-logarithm (NNLL) accuracy via the two-loop soft anomalous dimension matrices. Approximate next-to-next-to-leading-order (NNLO) differential and total cross sections are calculated. Detailed theoretical predictions are shown for the t tbar cross section and the top quark p_T distribution at the Tevatron and the LHC.Comment: 23 pages, 14 figures; additional results and figure

Obtaining Bounds on The Sum of Divergent Series in Physics

Under certain circumstances, some of which are made explicit here, one can deduce bounds on the full sum of a perturbation series of a physical quantity by using a variational Borel map on the partial series. The method is illustrated by applying it to various examples, physical and mathematical.Comment: 33 pages, Journal Versio

Planning Your Pork Production

Hog raisers know that pork prices have their ups and downs. But they don\u27t always give enough attention to the way in which these prices change. Hog prices usually follow a more or less definite pattern from year to year

Taking Guesswork Out og Hog Raising

If you raise hogs, you have to take some gambles. But you\u27ll have a better chance of winning if you know how to figure your odds

The weak angle gamma from one-particle inclusive CP asymmetries in the B(s) system

We compute CP asymmetries of one-particle inclusive B(s) --> D(s) X decay rates. We find that the weak angle gamma could in principle be extracted from these asymmetries although they are very small. Taking the decay width difference into account, we find that the time integrated CP asymmetries are of the order A=1.4 10^(-4) sin(gamma). Some large uncertainties remain due to the lack of experimental data.Comment: 12 page

Power Corrections in Charmless B Decays

In this paper, we focus on the role of power corrections in QCD factorization(QCDF) method in charmless two-body nonleptonic $B$ meson decays. We use the ratio of the branching fraction of $B^+ \to \pi^+ K^{\ast 0}$ to that of $B^0 \to \pi^- \rho^+$, for which the theoretical uncertainties are greatly reduced, to show clearly that the power corrections in charmless B decays are probably large. With other similar ratios considered, for example, for the $B^0 \to K^- \rho^+$ decay, it is very likely that, among various sources of power corrections, annihilation topology plays an indispensable role at least for penguin dominated $\rm PV$ channels. We also consider some selective ratios of direct CP asymmetries. Among these, we find that, if power corrections other than the chirally enhanced power corrections and annihilation topology were negligible, QCDF would predict the direct CP asymmetry of $B \to \pi^+ \pi^-$ to be about 3 times larger than that of $B \to \pi^\pm K^\mp$, with opposite sign. Experimentally any significant deviation from this prediction would suggest either new physics or possibly the importance of long-distance rescattering effects.Comment: references and note added, to appear in Phys. Rev.

On the Universality of the Leading, 1/Q1/Q Power Corrections in QCD

We discuss $1/Q$ corrections to hard processes in QCD where $Q$ is a large mass parameter like the total energy in $e^+e^-$ annihilation. The main problem we address ourselves to is whether these corrections to different processes (concentrating for definiteness on the Thrust and the Drell-Yan cross section) can be related to each other in a reliable way so that the phenomenology of the $1/Q$ corrections can be developed. We derive first the relation valid to lowest order using both the renormalon and finite-gauge-boson mass techniques to check its independence on the infrared cut- off procedure. We then argue that the $1/Q$ corrections are due to soft gluons which factorize into a universal factor such that the lowest order relations are preserved in higher orders.Comment: 12 page

Soft-Collinear Messengers: A New Mode in Soft-Collinear Effective Theory

It is argued that soft-collinear effective theory for processes involving both soft and collinear partons, such as exclusive B-meson decays, should include a new mode in addition to soft and collinear fields. These "soft-collinear messengers" can interact with both soft and collinear particles without taking them far off-shell. They thus can communicate between the soft and collinear sectors of the theory. The relevance of the new mode is demonstrated with an explicit example, and the formalism incorporating the corresponding quark and gluon fields into the effective Lagrangian is developed.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figures. Extended Section 6, clarifying the relevance of different types of soft-collinear interaction