Flavour and CP violation at B factories: The Kobayashi-Maskawa mechanism and what else ?

by Martin Beneke (RWTH Aachen)

Tuesday 17 Feb 2009, 16:45 → 18:15 Europe/Berlin

Universe

Ten years of B factory operation have confirmed the Kobayashi-Maskawa ansatz as the basic mechanism of flavour and CP violation. I discuss the theoretical interpretation of the key measurements that have led to this conclusion, and the theoretical concepts that allow to convert hadronic observables into statements about fundamental physics. The hierarchy in the CKM matrix remains unexplained. I review a recent idea that addresses the flavour and gauge hierarchies simultaneously.