Inclusive Semi-leptonic B Decays to order 1/m_b^4

We give a systematic way to compute higher orders in the 1/m_b expansion in inclusive semi-leptonic decays at tree level. We reproduce the known 1/m_b^3 terms and compute the 1/m_b^4 terms at tree level. The appearing non-perturbative parameters and the impact on the determination of V_{cb} are discussed.Comment: 23 pages, 3 figures, uses phystex.st

Complete Michel Parameter Analysis of inclusive semileptonic b \to c transition

We perform a complete "Michel parameter" analysis of all possible helicity structures which can appear in the process $B \to X_c \ell \bar{\nu}_\ell$. We take into account the full set of operators parametrizing the effective Hamiltonian and include the complete one-loop QCD corrections as well as the non-perturbative contributions. The moments of the leptonic energy as well as the combined moments of the hadronic energy and hadronic invariant mass are calculated including the non-standard contributions.Comment: 22 pages, 3 figures, non-perturbative corrections adde

Minimal Flavour Violation and Beyond

Starting from the effective-theory framework for Minimal Flavour Violation, we give a systematic definition of next-to-minimal (quark) flavour violation in terms of a set of spurion fields exhibiting a particular hierarchy with respect to a small (Wolfenstein-like) parameter. A few illustrative examples and their consequences for charged and neutral decays with different quark chiralities are worked out in some detail. Our framework can be used as a model-independent classification scheme for the parameterization of flavour structure from physics beyond the Standard Model.Comment: 17 pages, no figures, phenomenological discussion extended, references adde

The Two Roads to "Intrinsic Charm" in B Decays

We describe two complementary ways to show the presence of higher order effects in the 1/m_Q expansion for inclusive B decays that have been dubbed "Intrinsic Charm". Apart from the lessons they can teach us about QCD's nonperturbative dynamics their consideration is relevant for precise extractions of |V_{cb}|: for they complement the estimate of the potential impact of 1/m_Q^4 contributions. We draw semiquantitative conclusions for the expected scale of Weak Annihilation in semileptonic B decays, both for its valence and non-valence components.Comment: 17 pages, 3 figure

Model-independent Analysis of Lepton Flavour Violating Tau Decays

Many models for physics beyond the Standard Model predict lepton-flavour violating decays of charged leptons at a level which may become observable very soon. In the present paper we investigate the decays of a Tau into three charged leptons in a generic way, based on effective-field-theory methods, where the relevant operators are classified according to their chirality structure. We work out the decay distributions and discuss phenomenological implications.Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures, references and comments adde

Search for the lepton flavour violating decay τ − → μ − μ + μ −

A search for the lepton flavour violating decay $\tau^-\to \mu^-\mu^+\mu^-$ is performed with the LHCb experiment. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of $1.0\mathrm{\,fb}^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of $7\mathrm{\,Te\kern -0.1em V}$ and $2.0\mathrm{\,fb}^{-1}$ at $8\mathrm{\,Te\kern -0.1em V}$. No evidence is found for a signal, and a limit is set at $90\%$ confidence level on the branching fraction, $\mathcal{B}(\tau^-\to \mu^-\mu^+\mu^-) < 4.6 \times 10^{-8}$.Comment: 20 pages, 10 figures, published as JHEP 02 (2015) 12

Inclusive Semi-leptonic B Decays to order 1/m 4 b

We give a systematic way to compute higher orders in the 1/mb expansion in inclusive semi-leptonic decays at tree level. We reproduce the known 1/m3 b terms and compute the 1/m4 b terms at tree level. The appearing non-perturbative parameters and the impact on Inclusive semi-leptonic decays are the cleanest way to access the matrix elements of the CKM matrix. In order to achieve precision in the determination of the CKM parameters a reliable theoretical framework is needed in addition to precise data. From the off-diagonal CKM matrix elements only Vus and Vcb are known very precisely from direct measurements [1], and bot