A complete review of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix elements and
of the experimental methods for their determination is presented. A critical
analysis of the relevant experimental results, and in particular of the most
recent ones, allows to improve the accuracies of all the matrix elements. A
chi-square minimization with the three-family unitarity constraint on the CKM
matrix is performed to test the current interpretation of the CP violating
phenomena inside the Standard Model. A complete and unambiguous solution
satisfying all the imposed constraints is found. As a by-product of the fit,
the precision on the values of the matrix elements is further increased and it
is possible to obtain estimates for the important CP violation observables sin2β, sin2α and γ. Finally, an independent estimation of the
CKM elements based on a Bayesian approach is performed. This complementary
method constitutes a check of the results obtained, providing also the
probability functions of the CKM elements and of the related quantities.Comment: 81 pages, 1 file (with 15 figures); v2: misprints corrected on pages
32 & 3