We argue that the Large Energy Effective Theory (LEET), originally proposed by Dugan and Grinstein, is applicable to exclusive semileptonic, radiative and rare heavy-to-light transitions in the region where the energy release E is large compared to the strong interaction scale and to the mass of the final hadron, i.e. for q 2 not close to the zero-recoil point. We derive the Effective Lagrangian from the QCD one, and show that in the limit of heavy mass M for the initial hadron and large energy E for the final one, the heavy and light quark fields behave as two-component spinors. Neglecting QCD short-distance corrections, this implies that there are only three form factors describing all the pseudoscalar to pseudoscalar or vector weak current matrix elements. We argue that the dependence of these form factors with respect to M and E should be factorizable, the M -dependence ( √ M ) being derived from the usual heavy quark expansion while the E-dependence is controlled by the behaviour of the light-cone distribution amplitude near the end-point u ∼ 1. The usual expectation of the ∼ (1 − u) behaviour leads to a 1/E 2 scaling law, that is a dipole form in q 2 . We also show explicitly that in the appropriate limit, the Light-Cone Sum Rule method satisfies our general relations as well as the scaling laws in M and E of the form factors, and obtain very compact and simple expressions for the latter. Finally we note that this formalism gives theoretical support to the quark model-inspired methods existing in the literature.

We explicitly formulate the vacuum quark-pair-creation model (QPC) of strong-interaction vertices (Micu, Carlitz and Kislinger) in terms of the harmonic-oscillator spatial-SU(6) wave functions and an explicit vacuum quark-antiquark-pair transition matrix (both displaying the quark internal momenta). The coupling constants are expressed as functions of masses and the oscillator radius. The structure of the formulas is in agreement with the expressions coming from VMD (vector-meson dominance) and PCAC (partial conservation of axial-vector current), and the quark-model calculation of leptonic decays. We carefully investigate the relation of this QPC model with the additive quark model with elementary meson emission, which is known to explain most of the hadronic decay? We show that we recover this model in a given limit. It is shown that in this limit, a term G ( i ) . ( g , -k i ) (depending on the internal quark momentum) appears in place of the usual Z(i).$, term; the additional contribution is similar to the well-known "recoil" term of Mitra and Ross. The main limits of the model lie (i) in the presence of a phenomenological pair-creation constant and (ii) in the nonrelativistic character of the treatment. A critical test of our model is provided by prediction of the decay-products polarization. We find a striking agreement with experiment for the crucial A , and B decays. We make a comparison with the parameter-dependent model of Colglazier and Rosner.

Simply based on CP arguments, we argue against a Standard Model explanation of the baryon asymmetry of the universe in the presence of a first order phase transition. A CP-asymmetry is found in the reflection coefficients of quarks hitting the phase boundary created during the electroweak transition. The problem is analyzed both in an academic zero temperature case and in the realistic finite temperature one. The building blocks are similar in both cases: Kobayashi-Maskawa CP-violation, CPeven phases in the reflection coefficients of quarks, and physical transitions due to fermion self-energies. In both cases an effect is present at order α 2 W in rate. A standard GIM behaviour is found as intuitively expected. In the finite temperature case, a crucial role is played by the damping rate of quasi-particles in a hot plasma, which is a relevant scale together with M W and the temperature. The effect is many orders of magnitude below what observation requires, and indicates that non standard physics is indeed needed in the cosmological scenario.

We consider the scattering of quasi-particles off the boundary created during a first order electroweak phase transition. Spatial coherence is lost due to the quasi-quark damping rate, and we show that reflection on the boundary is suppressed, even at treelevel. Simply on CP considerations, we argue against electroweak baryogenesis in the Standard Model via the charge transport mechanism. A CP asymmetry is produced in the reflection properties of quarks and antiquarks hitting the phase boundary. An effect is present at order α 2 W in rate and a regular GIM behaviour is found, which can be expressed in terms of two unitarity triangles. A crucial role is played by the damping rate of quasi-particles in a hot plasma, which is a relevant scale together with M W and the temperature. The effect is many orders of magnitude below what observation requires.