Semileptonic Decays: The Heavy Daughter Quark Limit

TL;DR

This paper calculates the decay rate of b -> c l v to second order in alpha_s assuming equal b and c quark masses, confirming previous results in the contrasting limit.

Contribution

It provides a second-order calculation of semileptonic decay rates in the equal-mass heavy quark limit, complementing prior work in the light c-quark limit.

Findings

Results confirm previous calculations in the opposite mass limit.

Second-order alpha_s corrections are significant for decay rate predictions.

Supports the heavy quark symmetry approach in different mass regimes.

Abstract

We have calculated the rate of the decay b -> clv to second order in alpha_s in the limit that the b and c quarks have equal masses. The results here confirm recent calculations done in the opposite limit where the c-quark is much lighter than the b-quark.