We present a non-perturbative calculation of the form factors which contribute to the amplitudes for the radiative decays $Pto ell bar u_ell gamma$, where $P$ is a pseudoscalar meson and $ell$ is a charged lepton. Together with the non-perturbative
determination of the virtual photon corrections to the processes $Pto ell bar u_ell$, this will allow accurate predictions to be made at $O(alpha_{em})$ for leptonic decay rates for pseudoscalar mesons ranging from the pion to the $B$ meson. We are able to separate unambiguously the point-like contribution, the square of which leads to the infrared divergence in the decay rate, from the structure dependent, infrared-safe, terms in the amplitude. The fully non-perturbative, $O(a)$ improved calculation of the inclusive leptonic decay rates will lead to significantly improved precision in the determination of the corresponding Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix elements. Precise predictions for the emission of a hard photon are also very interesting, especially for the decays of heavy $D$ and $B$ mesons for which currently only model-dependent predictions are available to compare with existing experimental data.
We present a new method to evaluate with high precision the isospin breaking effects due to the mass difference between the up and down quarks using lattice QCD. Our proposal is applicable in principle to any hadronic observable which can be computed
on the lattice. It is based on the expansion of the path-integral in powers of the small parameter $m_d - m_u$. In this talk we discuss how to apply this method to compute the leading isospin breaking effects for several physical quantities of interest: the kaon masses, the kaon decay constants and the neutron-proton mass splitting.
We present a new method to evaluate with high precision isospin breaking effects due to the small mass difference between the up and down quarks using lattice QCD. Our proposal is applicable in principle to any hadronic observable which can be comput
ed on the lattice. It is based on the expansion of the path-integral in powers of the small parameter md-mu. In this paper, we apply this method to compute the leading isospin breaking effects for several physical quantities of interest: the kaon meson masses, the kaon decay constant, the form factors of semileptonic Kl3 decays and the neutron-proton mass splitting.
We calculate, in the continuum limit of quenched lattice QCD, the form factor that enters the decay rate of the semileptonic decay B --> D* l nu. By using the step scaling method (SSM), previously introduced to handle two scale problems in lattice QC
D, and by adopting flavor twisted boundary conditions we extract F(w) at finite momentum transfer and at the physical values of the heavy quark masses. Our results can be used in order to extract the CKM matrix element Vcb by the experimental decay rate without model dependent extrapolations. The value of Vcb agrees with the one obtained from the B --> D l nu channel and makes us confident that the quenched approximation well applies to these transitions.
We calculate, in the continuum limit of quenched lattice QCD, the matrix elements of the heavy-heavy vector current between heavy-light pseudoscalar meson states. We present the form factors for different values of the initial and final meson masses
at finite momentum transfer. In particular, we calculate the non-perturbative correction to the differential decay rate of the process B --> D l nu including the case of a non-vanishing lepton mass.
We calculate, in the continuum limit of quenched lattice QCD, the form factor that enters in the decay rate of the semileptonic decay B --> D l nu. Making use of the step scaling method (SSM), previously introduced to handle two scale problems in lat
tice QCD, and of flavour twisted boundary conditions we extract G(w) at finite momentum transfer and at the physical values of the heavy quark masses. Our results can be used in order to extract the CKM matrix element Vcb by the experimental decay rate without model dependent extrapolations.
The adoption of two distinct boundary conditions for two fermions species on a finite lattice allows to deal with arbitrary relative momentum between the two particle species, in spite of the momentum quantization rule due to a limited physical box s
ize. We test the physical significance of this topological momentum by checking in the continuum limit the validity of the expected energy-momentum dispersion relations.
We compute the decay constants for the heavy--light pseudoscalar mesons in the quenched approximation and continuum limit of lattice QCD. Within the Schrodinger Functional framework, we make use of the step scaling method, which has been previously i
ntroduced in order to deal with the two scale problem represented by the coexistence of a light and a heavy quark. The continuum extrapolation gives us a value $f_{B_s} = 192(6)(4)$ MeV for the $B_s$ meson decay constant and $f_{D_s} = 240(5)(5)$ MeV for the $D_s$ meson.
We compute charm and bottom quark masses in the quenched approximation and in the continuum limit of lattice QCD. We make use of a step scaling method, previously introduced to deal with two scale problems, that allows to take the continuum limit of
the lattice data. We determine the RGI quark masses and make the connection to the MSbar scheme. The continuum extrapolation gives us a value m_b^{RGI} = 6.73(16) GeV for the b-quark and m_c^{RGI} = 1.681(36) GeV for the c-quark, corresponding respectively to m_b^{MSbar}(m_b^{MSbar}) = 4.33(10) GeV and m_c^{MSbar}(m_c^{MSbar}) = 1.319(28) GeV. The latter result, in agreement with current estimates, is for us a check of the method. Using our results on the heavy quark masses we compute the mass of the Bc meson, M_{Bc} = 6.46(15) GeV.
The coupling $g_{B^ast B pi}$ is related to the form factor at zero momentum of the axial current between $B^ast$- and $B$-states. This form factor is evaluated on the lattice using static heavy quarks and light quark propagators determined by a stoc
hastic inversion of the fermionic bilinear. The $gBBP$ coupling is related to the coupling $g$ between heavy mesons and low-momentum pions in the effective heavy meson chiral lagrangian. The coupling of the effective theory can therefore be computed by numerical simulations. We find the value $g = 0.42(4)(8)$. Besides its theoretical interest, the phenomenological implications of such a determination are discussed.
