Tau Physics: Theoretical Perspective

Abstract

The leptonic decays of the tau lepton provide relevant tests on the structure of the weak currents and the universality of their couplings to the gauge bosons. The hadronic tau decay modes constitute an ideal tool for studying low--energy effects of the strong interaction in very clean conditions. Accurate determinations of the QCD coupling and the strange quark mass have been obtained with tau decay data. New physics phenomena, such as a non-zero tau neutrino mass or violations of conservation laws can also be searched for with tau decays.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures. Invited talk at the Sixth International Workshop on Tau Lepton Physics (Victoria, Canada, 18-21 September 2000