This thesis uses a variety of numerical and statistical techniques to perform high precision calculations in high energy physics using quantum field theory. It introduces the experimental motivation for the calculation of B meson form factors and includes a discussion of previous work. It then describes the modern theoretical framework describing these phenomena, outlining quantum chromodynamics and electroweak theory, and then illustrating the procedure of gauge fixing, the quantum effective action and background field gauge which is required for subsequent perturbative work. Details of the basic methodology of lattice quantum field theory are given as well as the specific formulation of the relativistic theory and nonrelativistic approximations used in this work to describe quantum chromodynamics. A comprehensive calculation of the zero recoil B to D* form factor is then presented, using state of the art lattice techniques with relativistic charm sea quarks and light sea quarks with correct physical masses, leading to a discussion of the dominant sources of uncertainty and possible resolutions of experimental tensions. Also included is preliminary work towards the full calculation of nonzero recoil matrix elements, with the aim of outlining possible future work. Finally, this thesis presents the computation of parameters correcting for radiative one loop phenomena and corrections to the kinetic coupling parameters in nonrelativistic quantum chromodynamics in order to achieve a desirable level of precision in future calculations. This is done using Monte-Carlo integration to evaluate integrals from diagrams generated using automated lattice perturbation theory in background field gauge in order to match the coefficients of the effective action between the lattice and the continuum.

Recent results at the LHCb and B-factory experiments have suggested that rare processes in B →Vγ and B → V ℓ¯ℓ decays, where V is a vector meson, show some deviation from Standard Model predictions. Although these anomalies are not yet at the level to constitute a formal discovery, they are certainly suggestive of potential New Physics effects in flavour-changing neutral currents. However, explanations within the Standard Model cannot yet be ruled out. This thesis contributes to the understanding of such anomalies in two ways. Firstly, the angular distribution of the B → KJ (→ Kπ)ℓ1¯ℓ2 decay is derived, for the full dimension-six effective weak Hamiltonian, using a generalisation of the helicity formalism to effective theories mediating b → sℓ1¯ℓ2 transitions. This approach sheds light on the origin of the underlying structure, and in the process extends the general angular distribution to decays in which the two leptons in the final state, ℓ1¯ℓ2, are not necessarily identical. An additional benefit of the derivation of the angular distribution presented in this manner is that it lends itself to a moments analysis of the decay. It is shown how the angular distribution changes in the presence of new operators, predicted to be vanishingly small in the Standard Model. Such operators could be sizeable in the presence of New Physics, but using a moments analysis enables the contribution of such operators to be assessed. Secondly, an analysis is presented of the three-particle vector and axial meson distribution amplitudes. It is shown that the distribution amplitudes of both particles are, up to QCD corrections, nearly identical. These results are applied to a new calculation of the long-distance charm loop contribution to radiative B → Vγ decays, and it is shown that the approximate symmetry can be exploited to provide an improved theoretical control in the search for New Physics contributions to right-handed currents in radiative decays.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 163-166).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Riverside, 2009. / Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 104-105). Issued in print and online. Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2003. / On title page "[eta]" appears as Greek symbol and "c̳" is a subscript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 124-128).

The Large Hadron Collider started operation this year, 2008. LHCb is a precision heavy-flavour experiment at this collider. The precision of LHCb is greatly aided by the LHCb Ring Imaging Cherenkov system for the separation and identification of charged hadrons. This system uses pixel Hybrid Photon Detectors, an innovative new technology for single photon imaging. The simulation and testing of these photon detectors are reported and discussed. The photodetectors were measured to have reached or exceeded the specifications in key areas. In particular, the detector quantum efficiencies far exceed expectations, by a relative 27 %. The precision of LHCb will be used to examine CP-violation and rare decays of B-mesons. A key part of the physics programme will be a measurement of the CP-violating flavour specific asymmetry in neutral B-meson mixing. This asymmetry is expected to be very small in the Standard Model, of order 10-4, however it is very sensitive to new physics, which can increase the asymmetry dramatically. We present an improved event selection and a novel method to control systematics. This will enable us to make a world-leading measurement of this parameter in one nominal year of data taking (2 fb-1).

L'expérience BABAR, située à SLAC (Stanford, Californie), étudie depuis 1999 les désintégrations des mésons $B$ produits dans des collisions électron positron à une énergie dans le centre de masse égale à la masse de la résonance $\Upsilon(4S)$. L'identification des particules chargées dans cette expérience utilise pour partie la mesure de la perte d'énergie par unité de longueur dans la chambre à dérive. Afin d'améliorer la calibration de cette quantité, une sélection d'électrons/positrons à partir d'événements Bhabha radiatifs a été développée, elle a permis de réduire l'asymétrie de charge dans la reconstruction des particules chargées. Dans les désintégrations des mésons $B$, la production inclusive des particules charmées ($D^0$, $\overline(D)^0$, $D^(\pm)$ , $D_s^(pm)$, $\Lambda_c^(\pm)$) est mesurée au moyen d'une nouvelle méthode, possible grâce à la grande statistique accumulée par l'expérience BABAR. Les mésons $B$ sont produits par paires à partir de la résonance $\Upsilon(4S)$. Les événements sont sélectionnés en reconstruisant complètement un $B$ dans un mode hadronique. Les particules charmées provenant du second $B$ sont alors reconstruites avec les traces restantes. Ceci permet de mesurer les nombres totaux de charmes produits lors des désintégrations des $B^+$ et des $B^0$ en séparant la production de charmes corrélés (transitions entre quarks: $b\rightarrow c X$) de la production anti-corrélée (transitions entre quarks: $b\rightarrow\overline(c) X$). Les résultats, obtenus avec une luminosité intégrée de $210 fb^(-1)$, sont les suivants~: \begin(displaymath) \begin(array)(l@(=\ ) c @(\hspace(1.5 cm)) l @(=\ ) c r ) N_(c)^(B^+) & 0.970 \pm 0.042 & N_(\overline(c))^(B^+) & 0.262\pm0.034 & \\ N_(c)^(B^0) & 0.950 \pm 0.057 & N_(\overline(c))^(B^0) & 0.285\pm0.048 &. \\ \end(array) \end(displaymath) Cette méthode permet également de mesurer, pour la première fois, les distributions en impulsion des particules charmées dans le référentiel du $B$ qui les a émises, ce qui donne accès aux différents mécanismes de production de ces particules.

Quantum Chromodynamics(QCD) is part of the Standard Model(SM) that describes the interaction of fundamental particles. In QCD, due to the fact that strong coupling constant is large at low energies, perturbative approaches do not work. For this reason, non-perturbative approaches have to be used for studying the properties of hadrons. Among several non-perturbative approaches, QCD sum rules is one of the reliable methods which is applied to understand the properties of hadrons and their interactions. In this thesis, the semileptonic rare decays of $B$ meson to $K_{1}(1270)$ and $K_{1} (1400)$ are analyzed in the framework of three point QCD sum rules approach. The $Brightarrow K_{1} (1270,1400) ell^+ ell^-$ decays are significant flavor changing neutral current (FCNC) decays of the $B$ meson, since FCNC processes are forbidden at tree level at SM. These decays are sensitive to the new physics beyond SM. The radiative $Brightarrow K_{1}(1270) gamma$ decay is observed experimentally. Although semileptonic $Bto K_1(1270,1400)$ decays are still not observed, they are expected to be observed at future B factories. These decays happens at the quark level with $brightarrow s ell^+ ell^- $ transition, providing new opportunities for calculating CKM matrix elements: $V_{tb}$ and $V_{ts}$. Applying three point QCD sum rules to $Brightarrow K_{1} (1270,1400) ell^+ ell^-$ decays is tricky, due to the fact that the $K_{1} (1270)$ and $K_{1} (1400)$ states are the mixtures of ideal $^{3}P_{1}(K_{1}^{A})$ and $^{1}P_{1}(K_{1}^{B})$ orbital angular momentum states. First, by taking axial vector and tensor current definitions for $K_1$ mesons, the transition form factors of $Brightarrow K_{1A} ell^+ ell^-$ and $Brightarrow K_{1B} ell^+ ell^-$ are calculated. Then using the definitions for $K_1$ mixing, the transition form factors of $Brightarrow K_{1} (1270,1400) ell^+ ell^-$ decays are obtained. The results of these form factors are used to estimate the branching ratio of $B$ meson into $K_1(1270)$ and $K_1(1400)$. The results obtained for form factors and branching fractions are also compared with the ones in the literature.

This work presents a precision determination of the mass difference of neutral and charged B mesons, m(B0) - m(B+). The measurement is based on a data sample of about 232 million B-meson pairs recorded with the BABAR detector at the e+e- storage-ring system PEP-II. In events of e+e- --> Upsilon(4S) --> B Bbar, B0 and B+ mesons are fully reconstructed in decays B+ --> J/psi K+ and B0 --> J/psi K*0 using the subsequent decays J/psi --> l+ l- and K*0 --> K+ pi- for the reconstruction of J/psi mesons and K*0 resonances, respectively. The determination of the mass difference from the measurement of the invariant B-meson masses suffers from detector-resolution effects. To reach the desired sensitivity, the B-meson momenta are measured in the center-of-mass system, the Upsilon(4S) rest frame. Since their energy is also known in the center-of-mass system, this method leads to the mass difference using the relativistic energy-momentum relation. For this purpose, three different fit methods are performed to the spectra of the B momenta. The obtained result is m(B0) - m(B+) = (+0.33 +- 0.05 +- 0.03) MeV/c^2, where the first error is statistical and the second estimates the systematic uncertainty of this measurement, which agrees well with the current world average. However, the combined error of this measurement is substantially smaller than that in the current world average, and the significance of m(B0) - m(B+) being non-zero has exceeded the 5 sigma level.