An introduction to the method of QCD sum rules is given for those who want to learn how to use this method. Furthermore, we discuss various applications of sum rules, from the determination of quark masses to the calculation of hadronic form factors and structure functions. Finally, we explain the idea of the light-cone sum rules and outline the recent development of this approach.to be published in the Boris Ioffe Festschrift "At the Frontier of Particle Physics / Handbook of QCD", edited by M. Shifman (World Scientific, Singapore, 2001)

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We investigate the spectra of light scalar and vector glueballs in a holografic description of QCD with a dilaton background bulk field. In particular, we study how the glueball masses depend on the conditions on the dilaton background and on the geometry of the bulk.Comment: LaTex, 13 pages, 2 figure

All the available experimental information on open charm and beauty mesons is used to classify the observed states in heavy quark doublets. The masses of some of the still unobserved states are predicted, in particular in the beauty sector. Adopting an effective Lagrangian approach based on the heavy quark and chiral symmetry, individual decay rates and ratios of branching fractions are computed, with results useful to assign the quantum numbers to recently observed charmed states which still need to be properly classified. Implications and predictions for the corresponding beauty mesons are provided. The experimental results are already copious, and are expected to grow up thanks to the experiments at the LHC and to the future high-luminosity flavour and $p-\bar p$ facilities.Comment: RevTex, 15 pages, 1 figure. Corrected Equations (8) and (9

Nonleptonic B to charmonium decays generally show deviations from the factorization predictions. For example, the mode B Ϫ →K Ϫ c0 has been experimentally observed with a sizable branching fraction while its factorized amplitude vanishes. We investigate the role of rescattering effects mediated by intermediate charmed meson production in this class of decay modes, and consider B Ϫ →K Ϫ h c with h c the J PC ϭ1 ϩϪ c c meson. Using an effective Lagrangian describing interactions of pairs of heavy-light Qq mesons with a quarkonium state, we relate this mode to the analogous mode with c0 in the final state. We find B(B Ϫ →K Ϫ h c ) large enough to be measured at B factories, so that this decay mode could be used to study the poorly known h c .