B-Meson Mixing and Lifetimes

Abstract

$B_d$ and $B_s$ meson systems play a fundamental role to test and improve our understanding of Standard Model flavor dynamics. The mixing parameters $\Delta m_{d,s}$ represent important constraints in the unitarity triangle analysis. Their theoretical estimates require non-perturbative calculations of B-meson decay constants and B-parameters; accurate results, recently obtained from the lattice, are reviewed. Other phenomenologically interesting quantities are the beauty hadron lifetime ratios and, the width differences and CP-violation parameters in $B_d$ and $B_s$ systems. We discuss their theoretical predictions which, in the last four years, have been improved thanks to accurate lattice calculations and next-to-leading order perturbative computations.

Comments: 5 pages, 1 table, 3 figures, talk given at Beauty 2005 (Assisi, June 20-24, 2005)