The Heavy Quark Expansion of QCD

TL;DR

This paper provides an elementary introduction to heavy quark symmetry and the heavy quark expansion, covering theoretical foundations and applications like meson decay constants and semileptonic B decays.

Contribution

It offers a comprehensive overview of heavy quark expansion techniques and their applications in heavy hadron physics, including nonperturbative fragmentation processes.

Findings

Expansion of heavy meson decay constants analyzed

Treatment of inclusive and exclusive semileptonic B decays explained

Discussion of heavy hadron production via nonperturbative fragmentation

Abstract

These lectures contain an elementary introduction to heavy quark symmetry and the heavy quark expansion. Applications such as the expansion of heavy meson decay constants and the treatment of inclusive and exclusive semileptonic $B$ decays are included. Heavy hadron production via nonperturbative fragmentation processes is also discussed.