Flavour Physics and CP Violation

Abstract

The starting point of these lectures is an introduction to the weak interactions of quarks and the Standard-Model description of CP violation, where the key element is the Cabibbo--Kobayashi--Maskawa matrix and the corresponding unitarity triangles. Since the B-meson system will govern the stage of (quark) flavour physics and CP violation in this decade, it will be -- after a brief look at the kaon system -- our main focus. We shall classify B-meson decays, introduce the theoretical tools to deal with them, explore the requirements for non-vanishing CP-violating asymmetries, and discuss B^0_q--B^0_q_bar mixing (q={d,s}). We will then turn to B-factory benchmark modes, discuss the physics potential of B^0_s mesons, which is particularly promising for B-decay experiments at hadron colliders, and emphasize the importance of studies of rare decays, which are absent at the tree level in the Standard Model, complement nicely the studies of CP violation, and provide interesting probes for new physics.