QCD challenges in radiative B decays

Radiative decays of the B meson are known to provide important constraints on the MSSM and many other realistic new physics models in the sub-TeV range. The inclusive branching ratio BR(B -> Xs gamma) being the key observable is currently measured to about 7% accuracy. Reaching a better precision on the theory side is a challenge both for the perturbative QCD calculations and for analyses of non-perturbative hadronic effects. The current situation is briefly summarized here.Comment: Overview talk presented at the International Workshop on QCD, Theory and Experiment "QCD@Work'', Martina Franca, Italy, June 20th-23rd, 201

Four-Loop Anomalous Dimensions for Radiative Flavour-Changing Decays

We evaluate the complete four-loop anomalous dimension matrix that is necessary for determining the effective flavour-changing neutral current couplings qbar-q'-gamma and qbar-q'-g at the next-to-next-to-leading order in QCD. The resulting O(alpha_s^2(mu_b)) correction to the B -> X_s gamma branching ratio amounts to around -2.9% for mu_b = 5 GeV, and -4.4% for mu_b = 2.5 GeVComment: 19 page

Bˉ→Xsγ\bar{B}\to X_s \gamma in the Two Higgs Doublet Model up to Next-to-Next-to-Leading Order in QCD

We compute three-loop matching corrections to the Wilson coefficients $C_7$ and $C_8$ in the Two Higgs Doublet Model by applying expansions for small, intermediate and large charged Higgs boson masses. The results are used to evaluate the branching ratio of $\bar{B}\to X_s \gamma$ to next-to-next-to leading order accuracy, and to determine an updated lower limit on the charged Higgs boson mass. We find \mhplus \ge 380 GeV at 95% confidence level when the recently completed BABAR data analysis is taken into account. Our results for the charged Higgs contribution to the branching ratio exhibit considerably weaker sensitivity to the matching scale $\mu_0$, as compared to previous calculations.Comment: 20 pages, 15 figures; v2: minor modifications, matches published version in JHE

Exclusive rare B -> K*e+e- decays at low recoil: controlling the long-distance effects

We present a model-independent description of the exclusive rare decays B-> K* e+e- in the low recoil region (large lepton invariant mass q^2 ~ m_b^2). In this region the long-distance effects from quark loops can be computed with the help of an operator product expansion in 1/Q, with Q={m_b, \sqrt{q^2}}. Nonperturbative effects up to and including terms suppressed by Lambda/Q and mc^2/mb^2 relative to the short-distance amplitude can be included in a model-independent way. Based on these results, we propose an improved method for determining the CKM matrix element |V{ub}| from a combination of rare and semileptonic B and D decays near the zero recoil point. The residual theoretical uncertainty from long distance effects in this |V{ub}| determination comes from terms in the OPE of order alpha_s(Q)\Lambda/mb, alpha_s^2(Q), mc^4/mb^4$ and duality violations and is estimated to be below 10%.Comment: 21 pages RevTex, 2 figures; v3: extensive numerical changes in the NLL analysis, with improved stability under scale dependence. Typos fixed, version to appear in Phys.Rev.

The electromagnetic dipole operator effect on B -> Xs gamma at O(alpha_s^2)

The flavor-changing electromagnetic dipole operator O_7 gives the dominant contribution to the B -> Xs gamma decay rate. We calculate two-loop QCD corrections to its matrix element together with the corresponding bremsstrahlung contributions. The optical theorem is applied, and the relevant imaginary parts of three-loop diagrams are computed following the lines of our recent t -> Xb W calculation. The complete result allows us to test the validity of the naive non-abelianization (NNA) approximation that has been previously applied to estimate the NNLO QCD correction to Gamma(B -> Xs gamma)/Gamma(B -> Xu e nu). When both decay widths are normalized to m^5_{b,R} in the same renormalization scheme R, the calculated O(alpha_s^2) correction is sizeable (~ 6%), and the NNA estimate is about 1/3 too large. On the other hand, when the ratio of the decay widths is written as S*(m_b(m_b)/m_{b,pole})^2, the calculated O(alpha_s^2) correction to S is at the level of 1% for both the complete and the NNA results.Comment: Corrected pi^2 terms in the description of intermediate steps in Section II. Final results unchange

The B -> Xs gamma Rate and CP Asymmetry within the Aligned Two-Higgs-Doublet Model

In the two-Higgs-doublet model the alignment of the Yukawa matrices in flavour space guarantees the absence of flavour-changing neutral currents at tree level, while introducing new sources for CP violation parametrized in a very economical way. This implies potentially large influence in a number of processes, b -> s gamma being a prominent example where rather high experimental and theoretical precision meet. We analyze the CP rate asymmetry in this inclusive decay and determine the resulting constraints on the model parameters. We demonstrate the compatibility with previously obtained limits. Moreover we extend the phenomenological analysis of the branching ratio, and examine the influence of resulting correlations on the like-sign dimuon charge asymmetry in B decays.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures. Submitted to Phys.Rev.

Flavor changing effects on single charged Higgs boson production associated with a bottom-charm pair at CERN Large Hadron Collider

We study flavor changing effects on the \ppbchT process at the Large Hadron Collider(LHC), which are inspired by the left-handed up-type squark mixings in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model(MSSM). We find that the SUSY QCD radiative corrections to $bcH^\pm$ coupling can significantly enhance the cross sections at the tree-level by a factor about $1.5 \sim 5$ with our choice of parameters. We conclude that the squark mixing mechanism in the MSSM makes the \ppbchT process a new channel for discovering a charged Higgs boson and investigating flavor changing effects.Comment: One Latex file, 27 pages, 8 figures,to be appeared in PR

Complete One-Loop MSSM Predictions for B --> lepton lepton' at the Tevatron and LHC

During the last few years the Tevatron has dramatically improved the bounds on rare B-meson decays into two leptons. In the case of B_s --> mu+ mu-, the current bound is only ten times greater than the Standard Model expectation. Sensitivity to this decay is one of the benchmark goals for LHCb performance and physics. The Higgs penguin dominates this rate in the region of large tan(beta) of the MSSM. This is not necessarily the case in the region of low tan(beta), since box and Z-penguin diagrams may contribute at a comparable rate. In this article, we compute the complete one-loop MSSM contribution to B --> l+l'- for l,l' = e, mu. We study the predictions for general values of tan(beta) with arbitrary flavour mixing parameters. We discuss the possibility of both enhancing and suppressing the branching ratios relative to their Standard Model expectations. In particular, we find that there are "cancellation regions" in parameter space where the branching ratio is suppressed well below the Standard Model expectation, making it effectively invisible to the LHC.Comment: 30 pages, 4 figures; v.3: corrected factors of (2 pi) in (2.11), (3.1), (A.11), (A.13-14