Highlights of the B-Physics Landscape

The exploration of the quark-flavour sector of the Standard Model is one of the hot topics in particle physics of this decade. In these studies, which show a fruitful interplay between theory and experiment, the B-meson system offers a particularly interesting laboratory. After giving an introduction to quark-flavour mixing and CP violation as well as to the theoretical tools to deal with non-leptonic B decays, we discuss popular avenues for new physics to enter the roadmap of quark-flavour physics. This allows us to have a detailed look at the B-factory benchmark modes B0 d → J/ψKS, B0 d → φKS and B0 d → π+π−, with a particular emphasis of the impact of new physics. We then perform an analysis of the B → πK puzzle, which may indicate new sources of CP violation in the electroweak penguin sector, and discuss its implications for rare B and K decays. The next topic is given by b → d penguin processes, which are now starting to become accessible at the B factories, thereby representing a new territory of the B-physics landscape. Finally, we discuss the prospects for B-decay studies at the Large Hadron Collider, where the B0 s -meson system plays an outstanding rôle. Invited topical review for Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physics CERN-PH-TH/2005-263 December 2005 Highlights of the B-Physics Landscape