Beauty Semileptonic Branching Ratios.pdf

Beauty Semileptonic Branching RatiosMichael SchmittUniversity of WisconsinAbstractRecent measurements of inclusive and exclusive semileptonic b branching ratios are reviewed.Model-independent analyses from ARGUS and CLEO conrm the value B(b ! `X) = 10:4%,while new analyses from ALEPH obtain higher values above 11%. The dierence is not consistentwith measured values of b hadron lifetime. New measurements of B(B ! D?`) from CLEOand ALEPH are in good agreement. First measurements of B ! D?` branching ratios fromOPAL, DELPHI, and ALEPH conrm indirect evidence for a large D?? component in semileptonicB decays. contributed to theSixth International Symposium on Heavy Flavour PhysicsPisa, Italy, June 6{10, 1995.PACS 13.20.He, 13.30.CeSCHMITT@VXALUW.CERN.CHSupported by the US Department of Energy, grant number DE-FG0295ER40896. 1 IntroductionOne of the primary goals of B physics is the precise measurement of the elements of the CKM matrix.Semileptonic decays aord two means of extracting Vcb: inclusive decays (any b hadron produces aprompt lepton and any hadronic nal state), and a particular exclusive decay (B mesons produce aprompt lepton and a D?). In both cases one uses the fact that the partial width is proportional tojVcbj2. The theoretical issues are quite dierent in the two cases, as are the experimental systematics.Semileptonic decays are eective tags for b hadrons. Important electroweak measurements (bb,AbFB, , tt, etc.) from LEP, SLC, and the TEVATRON rely on tagging b quarks with leptons. Goodempirical knowledge of semileptonic b decays is necessary to keep systematic uncertainties low.The latest measurements of inclusive and exclusive semileptonic b hadron decays are described,with an emphasis on dierences between experiments and methods. Other contributions to thisSymposium focus more on extracting a value for Vcb, and on the theoretical issues [1, 2].2 Inclusive Semileptonic Decays2.1 MotivationTheoretical predictions for semileptonic decays