We compute the QCD form factor resumming threshold logarithms in B --> X_c + l + nu_l decays to next-to-leading logarithmic approximation. We present an interpolation formula including soft as well as collinear effects softened by the non-vanishing charm mass.
WW/ZZ interference for Higgs signal and continuum background as well as signal-background interference is studied for same-flavour l anti-nu_l anti-l nu_l final states produced in gluon-gluon scattering at the LHC for light and heavy Higgs masses with minimal and realistic experimental selection cuts. For the signal cross section, we find WW/ZZ interference effects of O(5%) at M_H = 126 GeV. For M_H >= 200 GeV, we find that WW/ZZ interference is negligible. For the gg continuum background, we also find that WW/ZZ interference is negligible. As general rule, we conclude that non-negligible WW/ZZ interference effects occur only if at least one weak boson of the pair is dominantly off-shell due to kinematic constraints. The subdominant weak boson pair contribution induces a correction to the signal-background interference, which is at the few percentage point level before search selection cuts. Optimised selection cuts for M_H >~ 600 GeV are suggested.
The LHCb experiment observed B+ --> pi+ mu+ mu- decay with 1.0 fb^-1 data, which is the first measurement of a flavor changing neutral current b --> d l+ l- decay (l = e, mu). Based on QCD factorization, we give Standard Model predictions for the branching ratios, direct CP asymmetries, and isospin asymmetry for B --> pi l+ l- decays, in the kinematic region where the dilepton invariant mass is small. We find that the contribution from weak annihilation enhances the direct CP asymmetry for low l+ l- pair mass. Anticipating improved measurements, we assess the utility of B+ --> pi+ l+ l- observables, when combined with B0 --> pi- l+ nu and B+ --> K+ l+ l-, for determining CKM parameters in the future.
The effects of non-local interactions in rare B decays, $Bsll$, are investigated. We show the correlation between the branching ratio and the forward-backward asymmetry via two coefficients of the non-local interactions. This will certainly help us find any deviations from the standard model through the non-local interactions.
We present results from a search for the flavor-changing neutral current decays $Bto Kell^+ell^-$ and $Bto K^*ell^+ell^-$, where $ell^+ell^-$ is either an $e^+e^-$ or $mu^+mu^-$ pair. The data sample comprises $22.7times 10^6$ $Upsilon(4S)to Bbar B$ decays collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II $B$ Factory. We obtain the 90% C.L. upper limits ${mathcal B}(Bto Kell^+ell^-)< 0.50times 10^{-6}$ and ${mathcal B}(Bto K^*ell^+ell^-)<2.9times 10^{-6}$, close to Standard Model predictions for these branching fractions. We have also obtained limits on the lepton-family-violating decays $Bto Ke^{pm}mu^{mp}$ and $Bto K^{*}e^{pm}mu^{mp}$.
We study inclusive semi-leptonic (B -> X_c ell u) decay using the power counting m_c ~ sqrt{Lambda_{QCD} m_b}. Assuming this scaling for the charm-quark mass, the decay kinematics can be chosen to access the shape-function region even in b -> c transitions. To apply effective field theory methods in this region we extend SCET to describe massive collinear quarks. We calculate the tree-level decay rate, including O(Lambda_{QCD}/m_b) power corrections, and show that it factorizes into a convolution of jet and shape functions. We identify a certain kinematical variable whose decay spectrum is proportional to the universal leading-order shape function familiar from b -> u decay, and speculate as to whether information about this shape function can be extracted from data on b -> c decay.