Theory overview of semileptonic $B$ decays

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent theoretical advances in semileptonic B decays, focusing on exclusive |V_{cb}| determinations, lepton flavor universality violations, and potential New Physics tests.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of recent progress and discusses implications of anomalies in semileptonic B decays for New Physics.

Findings

Hints of lepton flavor universality violation in B decays

Implications of anomalies for New Physics models

Potential experimental tests for proposed explanations

Abstract

I review the recent theoretical progress on the study of tree-level semileptonic $b\to c$ decays. After briefly reviewing the latest developments on the exclusive determinations of $|V_{cb}|$, I discuss the hints on lepton flavor universality violation in $B\to D^{(\ast)}\ell \bar{\nu}$ decays. Particular emphasis is given to the implications of these anomalies and to the possibilities to experimentally test the proposed New Physics explanations.