Search

We present an updated global analysis of beauty decays sensitive to the angle $\gamma$ of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix and of $D$-meson mixing data in the framework of approximate universality for charm mixing. We extract the fundamental theoretical parameters determining absorptive and dispersive contributions to $D$ meson mixing and CP violation, together with the angle $\gamma$. The results for the charm mixing parameters are $x_{12} \simeq x = (0.402 \pm 0.034)\%$ and $y_{12} \simeq y = (0.629 \pm 0.021)\%$, while the two CP-violating phases are given by $\varphi_2^M = (2.4 \pm 1.6)^{\Large \circ}$ and $\varphi_2^{\Gamma} = (2.6 \pm 1.2)^{\Large \circ}$. The angle $\gamma$ is found to be $\gamma = (68.4 \pm 2.6)^{\Large \circ}$.

We present a lattice determination of the inclusive decay rate of the process $\tau\mapsto X_{us} \nu_\tau$ in which the $\tau$ lepton decays into a generic hadronic state $X_{us}$ with $\bar u s$ flavour quantum numbers. Our results have been obtained in $n_f=2+1+1$ iso-symmetric QCD with full non-perturbative accuracy, without any OPE approximation and, except for the presently missing long-distance isospin-breaking corrections, include a solid estimate of all sources of theoretical uncertainties. This has been possible by using the Hansen-Lupo-Tantalo method [1] that we have already successfully applied in [2] to compute the inclusive decay rate of the process $\tau\mapsto X_{ud} \nu_\tau$ in the $\bar u d$ flavour channel. By combining our first-principles theoretical results with the presently-available experimental data we extract the CKM matrix element $\vert V_{us}\vert$, the Cabibbo angle, with a $0.9$\% accuracy, dominated by the experimental error., Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, 1 table. Version accepted by PRL, expanded technical discussion moved to an appendix, results unchanged

We determine, by means of lattice QCD calculations, the local form factors describing the $B_{s}\to \mu^{+}\mu^{-}\gamma$ decay. For this analysis we make use of the gauge configurations produced by the ETM Collaboration with $N_{f}=2+1+1$ flavour of Wilson-Clover twisted-mass fermions at maximal twist. To obtain the $B_{s}$ meson form-factors, we perform simulations for several heavy-strange meson masses $m_{H_{s}}$ in the range $m_{H_{s}} \in [ m_{D_{s}}, 2 m_{D_{s}} ]$, and extrapolate to the physical $B_{s}$ meson point $m_{B_{s}}\simeq 5.367~{\rm GeV}$ making use of the HQET scaling laws. We cover the region of large di-muon invariant masses $\sqrt{q^{2}} > 4.16\,{\rm GeV}$, and use our results to determine the branching fraction for $B_{s}\to \mu^{+}\mu^{-}\gamma$, which has been recently measured by LHCb in the region $\sqrt{q^{2}} > 4.9\,{\rm GeV}$. The largest contribution to the uncertainty in the partial branching fractions at values of $\sqrt{q^{2}} < 4.8\,{\rm GeV}$ is now due to resonance and other long-distance effects, including those from "charming penguins", which we estimate by summing over the contributions from the $J_P=1^-$ charmonium resonances., Comment: 42 page, 25 figures, 6 tables

We present a novel method to determine on the lattice both the real and imaginary parts of complex electroweak amplitudes involving two external currents and a single hadron or the QCD vacuum in the external states. The method is based on the spectral representation of the relevant time-dependent correlation functions and, by extending the range of applicability of other recent proposals built on the same techniques, overcomes the difficulties related to the analytic continuation from Minkowskian to Euclidean time, arising when intermediate states with energies smaller than the external states contribute to the amplitude. In its simplest form, the method relies on the standard $i \varepsilon$ prescription to regularize the Feynman integrals and at finite $\varepsilon$ it requires to verify the condition $1/L \ll \varepsilon \ll \Delta(E)$, where $L$ is the spatial extent of the lattice and, for any given energy $E$, $\Delta(E)$ represents the typical size of the interval around $E$ in which the hadronic amplitude is significantly varying. In order to illustrate the effectiveness of this approach in a realistic case, we apply the method to evaluate non-perturbatively the hadronic amplitude contributing to the radiative leptonic decay $D_s \to\ell\nu_\ell\,\gamma^*$, working for simplicity with a single lattice ensemble at fixed volume and lattice spacing., Comment: 22 pages, 8 figures

We compute the structure-dependent axial and vector form factors for the radiative leptonic decays $D_s\to \ell\nu_\ell\gamma$, where $\ell$ is a charged lepton, as functions of the energy of the photon in the rest frame of the $D_s$ meson. The computation is performed using gauge-field configurations with 2+1+1 sea-quark flavours generated by the European Twisted Mass Collaboration and the results have been extrapolated to the continuum limit. For the vector form factor we observe a very significant partial cancellation between the contributions from the emission of the photon from the strange quark and that from the charm quark. The results for the form factors are used to test the reliability of various Anz\"atze based on single-pole dominance and its extensions, and we present a simple parametrization of the form factors which fits our data very well and which can be used in future phenomenological analyses. Using the form factors we compute the differential decay rate and the branching ratio for the process $D_s\to e\nu_e\gamma$ as a function of the lower cut-off on the photon energy. With a cut-off of 10 MeV for example, we find a branching ratio of Br$(E_\gamma>10\,\mathrm{MeV})=4.4(3)\times 10^{-6}$ which, unlike some model calculations, is consistent with the upper bound from the BESIII experiment Br$(E_\gamma>10\,\mathrm{MeV})<1.3\times 10^{-4}$ at 90% confidence level. Even for photon energies as low as 10 MeV, the decay $D_s\to e\nu_e\gamma$ is dominated by the structure-dependent contribution to the amplitude (unlike the decays with $\ell=\mu$ or $\tau$), confirming its value in searches for hypothetical new physics as well as in determining the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) parameters at $O(\alpha_\mathrm{em})$, where $\alpha_{\mathrm{em}}$ is the fine-structure constant., Comment: 31 pages, 14 figures

We present a lattice determination of the leading-order hadronic vacuum polarization (HVP) contribution to the muon anomalous magnetic moment, $a_{\mu}^{\rm HVP}$, in the so-called short and intermediate time-distance windows, $a_{\mu}^{\rm SD}$ and $a_{\mu}^{\rm W}$. We employ gauge ensembles produced by the Extended Twisted Mass Collaboration (ETMC) with $N_f = 2 + 1 + 1$ flavours of Wilson-clover twisted-mass quarks with masses of all the dynamical quark flavours tuned close to their physical values. The simulations are carried out at three values of the lattice spacing equal to $\simeq 0.057, 0.068$ and $0.080$ fm with spatial lattice sizes up to $L \simeq 7.6$~fm. For the short distance window we obtain $a_\mu^{\rm SD} = 69.27\,(34) \cdot 10^{-10}$, in agreement with the dispersive determination based on experimental $e^+ e^-$ data. For the intermediate window we get instead $a_\mu^{\rm W} = 236.3\,(1.3) \cdot 10^{-10}$, which is consistent with recent determinations by other lattice collaborations, but disagrees with the dispersive determination at the level of $3.6\,\sigma$., Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, LATTICE 2022

We present a lattice determination of the leading-order hadronic vacuum polarization (HVP) contribution to the muon anomalous magnetic moment, $a_{\mu}^{\rm HVP}$, in the so-called short and intermediate time-distance windows, $a_{\mu}^{\rm SD}$ and $a_{\mu}^{\rm W}$, defined by the RBC/UKQCD Collaboration [1]. We employ gauge ensembles produced by the Extended Twisted Mass Collaboration (ETMC) with $N_f = 2 + 1 + 1$ flavors of Wilson-clover twisted-mass quarks with masses of all the dynamical quark flavors tuned close to their physical values. The simulations are carried out at three values of the lattice spacing equal to $\simeq 0.057, 0.068$ and $0.080$ fm with spatial lattice sizes up to $L \simeq 7.6$~fm. For the short distance window we obtain $a_\mu^{\rm SD}({\rm ETMC}) = 69.27\,(34) \cdot 10^{-10}$, which is consistent with the recent dispersive value of $a_\mu^{\rm SD}(e^+ e^-) = 68.4\,(5) \cdot 10^{-10}$ [2]. In the case of the intermediate window we get the value $a_\mu^{\rm W}({\rm ETMC}) = 236.3\,(1.3) \cdot 10^{-10}$, which is consistent with the result $a_\mu^{\rm W}({\rm BMW}) = 236.7\,(1.4) \cdot 10^{-10}$ [3] by the BMW collaboration as well as with the recent determination by the CLS/Mainz group of $a_\mu^{\rm W}({\rm CLS}) = 237.30\,(1.46) \cdot 10^{-10}$ [4]. However, it is larger than the dispersive result of $a_\mu^{\rm W}(e^+ e^-) = 229.4\,(1.4) \cdot 10^{-10}$ [2] by approximately $3.6$ standard deviations. The tension increases to approximately $4.5$ standard deviations if we average our ETMC result with those by BMW and CLS/Mainz. Our accurate lattice results in the short and intermediate windows point to a possible deviation of the $e^+ e^-$ cross section data with respect to Standard Model predictions in the low and intermediate energy regions, but not in the high energy region., Comment: 78 pages, 22 figures, 14 tables. Analysis improved with more data and fits, presentation reorganized, more material in appendices, fixed typos

We present a lattice calculation of the charged/neutral pion mass difference $M_{\pi^{+}}-M_{\pi^{0}}$ at order $\mathcal{O}(\alpha_{em})$ using the gauge configurations produced by the Extended Twisted Mass Collaboration with $N_{f}=2+1+1$ dynamical quark flavours at three values of the lattice spacing ($a \simeq 0.062, 0.082, 0.089~{\rm fm}$) and pion masses in the range $M_{\pi} \simeq 250-500~{\rm MeV}$. We employ the RM123 method and expand the path-integral around the isospin symmetric point at leading order in the electromagnetic coupling $\alpha_{em}$. Making use of the recently proposed RTM scheme, we evaluate the full $\mathcal{O}(\alpha_{em})$ contribution, with the inclusion of the disconnected diagram. At the physical point, after performing the continuum and infinite volume extrapolation, we obtain the value $M_{\pi^{+}}-M_{\pi^{0}}= 4.622~(95)~{\rm MeV}$ which is in good agreement with the experimental result $[ M_{\pi^{+}} - M_{\pi^{0}} ]^{exp.} = 4.5936(5)~{\rm MeV}$., Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, 1 table

We study the radiative leptonic decays $P\to\ell\nu_\ell\,\ell^{\prime\,+}\ell^{\prime\,-}$, where $P$ is a pseudoscalar meson and $\ell$ and $\ell^\prime$ are charged leptons. In such decays the emitted photon is off-shell and, in addition to the "point-like" contribution in which the virtual photon is emitted either from the lepton or the meson treated as a point-like particle, four structure-dependent (SD) form factors contribute to the amplitude. We present a strategy for the extraction of the SD form factors and implement it in an exploratory lattice computation of the decay rates for the four channels of kaon decays ($\ell,\ell^\prime=e,\mu$). It is the SD form factors which describe the interaction between the virtual photon and the internal hadronic structure of the decaying meson, and in our procedure we separate the SD and point-like contributions to the amplitudes. We demonstrate that the form factors can be extracted with good precision and, in spite of the unphysical quark masses used in our simulation ($m_\pi\simeq 320\,$MeV and $m_K\simeq 530\,$MeV), the results for the decay rates are in reasonable semiquantitative agreement with experimental data (for the channels where these exist). Following this preparatory work, the emphasis of our future work will be on obtaining results at physical quark masses and on the control of the systematic uncertainties associated with discretisation and finite-volume errors., Comment: 30 pages, 47 figures

We present a preliminary non-perturbative lattice calculation of the form factors entering the processes $K\to \ell\,\nu_\ell\,\ell'^+\,\ell'^-$ and of the corresponding branching ratios. These form factors describe the interaction between the mediating virtual photon and the internal hadronic structure of the meson. By separating them from the point-like contribution to the matrix element we are able to isolate and reconstruct the structure-dependent contribution to the decay width. Our numerical analysis employs only one gauge ensemble and so it is affected by systematic uncertainties due to the missing continuum and physical point extrapolation. Despite this, we already find a reasonable agreement with the experimental data and with the next to leading order Chiral Perturbation Theory predictions. The method is general and can be applied to any pseudoscalar meson, though for heavier mesons the possibility of internal lighter states becomes problematic and still needs a proper study. A non-perturbative, model-independent lattice evaluation of these processes would allow further progress in the theoretical predictions of SM hadronic quantities and in the search of New Physics., Comment: 11 pages, 16 figures. Talk presented at the 38th International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory (Lattice 2021), 26-30 July, 2021, Zoom/Gather@Massachusetts Institute of Technology

We present our preliminary results concerning the charged/neutral pion mass difference $M_{\pi^{+}} - M_{\pi^{0}}$ at order $\mathcal{O}(\alpha_{em})$ in the QED interactions, and for $M_{\pi^{+}} - M_{\pi^{0}}$ at order $\mathcal{O}\left( (m_{d}-m_{u})^{2}\right)$ in the strong isospin-breaking term. The latter contribution provides a determination of the $\rm{SU}(2)$ chiral perturbation theory low-energy constant $\ell_{7}$, whose present estimate is affected by a rather large uncertainty. The disconnected contributions appearing in the diagrammatic expansion of $M_{\pi^{+}} - M_{\pi^{0}}$, being very noisy, are notoriously difficult to evaluate and have been neglected in our previous calculations. By making use of twisted mass Lattice QCD simulations and adopting the RM123 method, we will show that taking profit from our recently proposed rotated twisted-mass (RTM) scheme, tailored to improve the signal on these kinds of observables, it is possible to evaluate the disconnected diagrams with good precision. For the QED induced pion mass difference, we obtain, after performing the extrapolation towards the continuum and thermodynamic limit and at the physical point, the preliminary value $M_{\pi^{+}}-M_{\pi^{0}} = 4.622~(95)~{\rm MeV}$, that is in good agreement with the experimental result. For the determination of the low-energy constant $\ell_{7}$, our result $\ell_{7} = 2.5~(1.4)\times 10^{-3}$, which is limited so far to a single lattice spacing, is in agreement and improves phenomenological estimates., Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures. Talk presented at the 38th International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory (Lattice 2021), 26-30 July, 2021, Zoom/Gather@Massachusetts Institute of Technology

We present the calculation of the short-distance power corrections to the CP-violation parameter $\varepsilon_K$ coming from dimension-8 operators in the $\Delta S=2$ effective Hamiltonian. A first estimate of this contribution, obtained for large-$N_c$ and in the chiral limit, was provided in ref. [arXiv:hep-ph/0406094]. Here we evaluate and include the $\mathcal{O}(m_K^2/m_c^2)$ and $\mathcal{O}(\Lambda_{QCD}^2/m_c^2)$ contributions that, a priori, could induce $\mathcal{O}(1)$ corrections to previous estimates, as $m_K$ is numerically of order $\Lambda_{QCD}$. Our computation shows that there are several dimension-8 operators besides the one considered before. Their effect on $\varepsilon_K$, however, accidentally cancels out to a large extent, leaving the final correction at the level of 1%., Comment: 23 pages, 2 figures. v2: added references and CKM parameter values. v3: matches published version

We present results for the light, strange and charm quark masses using $N_f=2+1+1$ twisted mass fermion ensembles at three values of the lattice spacing, including two ensembles simulated with the physical value of the pion mass. The analysis is done both in the meson and baryon sectors. The difference in the mean values found in the two sectors is included as part of the systematic error. The presentation is based on the work of Ref. [1], where more details can be found., Comment: Talk presented at the 38th International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory, Lattice 2021, Zoom/Gather@Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 26-30 Jul. 2021; 8 pages, 5 figures

We evaluate by means of lattice QCD calculations the low-energy constant $\ell_{7}$ which parametrizes strong isospin effects at NLO in $\rm{SU}(2)$ chiral perturbation theory. Among all low-energy constants at NLO, $\ell_{7}$ is the one known less precisely, and its uncertainty is currently larger than $50\%$. Our strategy is based on the RM123 approach in which the lattice path-integral is expanded in powers of the isospin breaking parameter $\Delta m= (m_{d}-m_{u})/2$. In order to evaluate the relevant lattice correlators we make use of the recently proposed rotated twisted-mass (RTM) scheme. Within the RM123 approach, it is possible to cleanly extract the value of $\ell_{7}$ from either the pion mass splitting $M_{\pi^{+}}-M_{\pi^{0}}$ induced by strong isospin breaking at order $\mathcal{O}\left((\Delta m)^{2}\right)$ (mass method), or from the coupling of the neutral pion $\pi^{0}$ to the isoscalar operator $\left(\bar{u}\gamma_{5}u + \bar{d}\gamma_{5} d\right)/\sqrt{2}$ at order $\mathcal{O}(\Delta m)$ (matrix element method). In this pilot study we limit the analysis to a single ensemble generated by the Extended Twisted Mass Collaboration (ETMC) with $N_{f}=2+1+1$ dynamical quark flavours, which corresponds to a lattice spacing $a\simeq 0.095~{\rm fm}$ and to a pion mass $M_{\pi}\simeq 260~{\rm MeV}$. We find that the matrix element method outperforms the mass method in terms of resulting statistical accuracy. Our determination, $\ell_{7} = 2.5(1.4)\times 10^{-3}$, is in agreement and improves previous calculations., Comment: 17 pages, 3 figures

We propose a scheme of lattice twisted-mass fermion regularization which is particularly convenient for application to isospin breaking (IB) QCD and QED calculations, based in particular on the so called RM123 approach, in which the IB terms of the action are treated as a perturbation. The main, practical advantage of this scheme is that it allows the calculation of IB effects on some mesonic observables, like e.g. the pi+ - pi0 mass splitting, using lattice correlation functions in which the quark and antiquark fields in the meson are regularized with opposite values of the Wilson parameter r. These correlation functions are found to be affected by much smaller statistical fluctuations, with respect to the analogous functions in which quark and antiquark fields are regularized with the same value of r. Two numerical application of this scheme, that we call "rotated twisted-mass", within pure QCD and QCD+QED respectively, are also provided for illustration., Comment: 17 pages, 2 figures. v2: minor corrections, references added. Matches the published version

We present a calculation of the up, down, strange and charm quark masses performed within the lattice QCD framework. We use the twisted mass fermion action and carry out simulations that include in the sea two light mass-degenerate quarks, as well as the strange and charm quarks. In the analysis we use gauge ensembles simulated at three values of the lattice spacing and with light quarks that correspond to pion masses in the range from 350 MeV to the physical value, while the strange and charm quark masses are tuned approximately to their physical values. We use several quantities to set the scale in order to check for finite lattice spacing effects and in the continuum limit we get compatible results. The quark mass renormalization is carried out non-perturbatively using the RI'-MOM method converted into the $\overline{\rm MS}$ scheme. For the determination of the quark masses we use physical observables from both the meson and the baryon sectors, obtaining $m_{ud} = 3.636(66)(^{+60}_{-57})$~MeV and $m_s = 98.7(2.4)(^{+4.0}_{-3.2})$~MeV in the $\overline{\rm MS}(2\,{\rm GeV})$ scheme and $m_c = 1036(17)(^{+15}_{-8})$~MeV in the $\overline{\rm MS}(3\,{\rm GeV})$ scheme, where the first errors are statistical and the second ones are combinations of systematic errors. For the quark mass ratios we get $m_s / m_{ud} = 27.17(32)(^{+56}_{-38})$ and $m_c / m_s = 11.48(12)(^{+25}_{-19})$., Comment: 37 pages, 23 figures, 24 tables. One reference added

We present a comparison of existing experimental data for the radiative leptonic decays $P\to\ell\nu_\ell\gamma$, where $P=K$ or $\pi$ and $\ell=e$ or $\mu$, from the KLOE, PIBETA, E787, ISTRA+ and OKA collaborations with theoretical predictions based on the recent non-perturbative determinations of the structure-dependent vector and axial-vector form factors, $F_V$ and $F_A$ respectively. These were obtained using lattice QCD+QED simulations at order $O(\alpha_{\mathrm{em}})$ in the electromagnetic coupling. We find good agreement with the KLOE data on $K\to e\nu_e\gamma$ decays from which the form factor $F^+=F_V+F_A$ can be determined. For $K\to\mu\nu_\mu\gamma$ decays we observe differences of up to 3\,-\,4 standard deviations at large photon energies between the theoretical predictions and the data from the E787, ISTRA+ and OKA experiments and similar discrepancies in some kinematical regions with the PIBETA experiment on radiative pion decays. A global study of all the kaon-decay data within the Standard Model results in a poor fit, largely because at large photon energies the KLOE and E787 data cannot be reproduced simultaneously in terms of the same form factor $F^+$. The discrepancy between the theoretical and experimental values of the form factor $F^-=F_V-F_A$ is even more pronounced. These observations motivate future improvements of both the theoretical and experimental determinations of the structure-dependent form factors $F^+$ and $F^-$, as well as further theoretical investigations of models of "new physics" which might for example, include possible flavor changing interactions beyond $V - A$ and/or non-universal corrections to the lepton couplings., Comment: 31 pages, 8 figures, 11 tables. Version to appear in Phys. Rev. D

We present a non-perturbative lattice calculation of the form factors which contribute to the amplitudes for the radiative decays $P\to \ell \bar \nu_\ell \gamma$, where $P$ is a pseudoscalar meson and $\ell$ is a charged lepton. Together with the non-perturbative determination of the corrections to the processes $P\to \ell \bar \nu_\ell$ due to the exchange of a virtual photon, this allows accurate predictions at $O(\alpha_{em})$ to be made for leptonic decay rates for pseudoscalar mesons ranging from the pion to the $D_s$ meson. We are able to separate unambiguously and non-pertubatively the point-like contribution, from the structure-dependent, infrared-safe, terms in the amplitude. The fully non-perturbative $O(a)$ improved calculation of the inclusive leptonic decay rates will lead to the determination of the corresponding Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix elements also at $O(\alpha_{em})$. Prospects for a precise evaluation of leptonic decay rates with emission of a hard photon are also very interesting, especially for the decays of heavy $D$ and $B$ mesons for which currently only model-dependent predictions are available to compare with existing experimental data., Comment: 46 pages, 12 figures

We present a novel strategy to renormalize lattice operators in QCD+QED, including first order QED corrections to the non-perturbative evaluation of QCD renormalization constants. Our procedure takes systematically into account the mixed non-factorizable QCD+QED effects which were neglected in previous calculations, thus significantly reducing the systematic uncertainty on renormalization corrections. The procedure is presented here in the RI'-MOM scheme, but it can be applied to other schemes (e.g. RI-SMOM) with appropriate changes. We discuss the application of this strategy to the calculation of the leading isospin breaking corrections to the leptonic decay rates $\Gamma(\pi_{\mu 2})$ and $\Gamma(K_{\mu 2})$, evaluated for the first time on the lattice. The precision in the matching to the $W$-regularization scheme is improved to $\mathcal{O}(\alpha_{em}\alpha_s(M_W))$ with respect to previous calculations. Finally, we show the updated precise result obtained for the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix element $|V_{us}|$., Comment: Presented at the 37th International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory (Lattice 2019), 16-22 June 2019, Wuhan, China

We discuss the theoretical framework required for the computation of radiative corrections to semileptonic decay rates in lattice simulations, and in particular to those for $K_{\ell3}$ decays. This is an extension of the framework we have developed and successfully implemented for leptonic decays. New issues which arise for semileptonic decays, include the presence of unphysical terms which grow exponentially with the time separation between the insertion of the weak Hamiltonian and the sink for the final-state meson-lepton pair. Such terms must be identified and subtracted. We discuss the cancellation of infrared divergences and show that, with the QED$_\mathrm{\,L}$ treatment of the zero mode in the photon propagator, the $O(1/L)$ finite-volume corrections are "universal". These corrections however, depend not only on the semileptonic form factors $f^\pm(q^2)$ but also on their derivatives $df^\pm/dq^2$. (Here $q$ is the momentum transfer between the initial and final state mesons.) We explain the perturbative calculation which would need to be performed to subtract the $O(1/L)$ finite-volume effects., Comment: Presented at the 37th International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory (Lattice 2019), 16-22 June 2019, Wuhan, China

We present a non-perturbative calculation of the form factors which contribute to the amplitudes for the radiative decays $P\to \ell \bar \nu_\ell \gamma$, where $P$ is a pseudoscalar meson and $\ell$ is a charged lepton. Together with the non-perturbative determination of the virtual photon corrections to the processes $P\to \ell \bar \nu_\ell$, this will allow accurate predictions to be made at $O(\alpha_{em})$ for leptonic decay rates for pseudoscalar mesons ranging from the pion to the $B$ meson. We are able to separate unambiguously the point-like contribution, the square of which leads to the infrared divergence in the decay rate, from the structure dependent, infrared-safe, terms in the amplitude. The fully non-perturbative, $O(a)$ improved calculation of the inclusive leptonic decay rates will lead to significantly improved precision in the determination of the corresponding Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix elements. Precise predictions for the emission of a hard photon are also very interesting, especially for the decays of heavy $D$ and $B$ mesons for which currently only model-dependent predictions are available to compare with existing experimental data.

The leading electromagnetic (e.m.) and strong isospin-breaking corrections to the $\pi^+ \to \mu^+ \nu[\gamma]$ and $K^+ \to \mu^+ \nu[\gamma]$ leptonic decay rates are evaluated for the first time on the lattice. The results are obtained using gauge ensembles produced by the European Twisted Mass Collaboration with $N_f = 2 + 1 + 1$ dynamical quarks. The relative leading-order e.m.~and strong isospin-breaking corrections to the decay rates are 1.53(19)\% for $\pi_{\mu 2}$ decays and 0.24(10)\% for $K_{\mu 2}$ decays. Using the experimental values of the $\pi_{\mu 2}$ and $K_{\mu 2}$ decay rates and updated lattice QCD results for the pion and kaon decay constants in isosymmetric QCD, we find that the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix element $ | V_{us}| = 0.22538(46)$, reducing by a factor of about $1.8$ the corresponding uncertainty in the Particle Data Group review. Our calculation of $|V_{us}|$ allows also an accurate determination of the first-row CKM unitarity relation $| V_{ud}|^2 + | V_{us}|^2 + | V_{ub}|^2 = 0.99988(46)$. Theoretical developments in this paper include a detailed discussion of how QCD can be defined in the full QCD+QED theory and an improved renormalisation procedure in which the bare lattice operators are renormalised non-perturbatively into the (modified) Regularization Independent Momentum subtraction scheme and subsequently matched perturbatively at $O(\alpha_{em}\alpha_s(M_W))$ into the W-regularisation scheme appropriate for these calculations., Comment: 63 pages, 10 figures and 2 tables. Version matches the published paper

We present a lattice calculation of the leading-order electromagnetic and strong isospin-breaking corrections to the hadronic vacuum polarization (HVP) contribution to the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon. We employ the gauge configurations generated by the European Twisted Mass Collaboration (ETMC) with $N_f = 2+1+1$ dynamical quarks at three values of the lattice spacing ($a \simeq 0.062, 0.082, 0.089$ fm) with pion masses between $\simeq 210$ and $\simeq 450$ MeV. The results are obtained adopting the RM123 approach in the quenched-QED approximation, which neglects the charges of the sea quarks. Quark disconnected diagrams are not included. After the extrapolations to the physical pion mass and to the continuum and infinite-volume limits the contributions of the light, strange and charm quarks are respectively equal to $\delta a_\mu^{\rm HVP}(ud) = 7.1 ~ (2.5) \cdot 10^{-10}$, $\delta a_\mu^{\rm HVP}(s) = -0.0053 ~ (33) \cdot 10^{-10}$ and $\delta a_\mu^{\rm HVP}(c) = 0.0182 ~ (36) \cdot 10^{-10}$. At leading order in $\alpha_{em}$ and $(m_d - m_u) / \Lambda_{QCD}$ we obtain $\delta a_\mu^{\rm HVP}(udsc) = 7.1 ~ (2.9) \cdot 10^{-10}$, which is currently the most accurate determination of the isospin-breaking corrections to $a_\mu^{\rm HVP}$., Comment: 23 pages, 7 figures, 5 tables. Version to appear in PRD. A bug in the update of the strange and charm contributions is removed and an extended discussion on the identification of the ground-state is included. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1808.00887, arXiv:1707.03019

We present a preliminary study toward a lattice determination of the vector and scalar form factors of the $B \to \pi \ell \nu$ semileptonic decays. We compute the form factors relative to the transition between heavy-light pseudoscalar mesons, with masses above the physical D-mass, and the pion. We simulate heavy-quark masses in the range $m_c^{phys} < m_h < 2m_c^{phys}$. Lorentz symmetry breaking due to hypercubic effects is clearly observed in the data, and included in the decomposition of the current matrix elements in terms of additional form factors. We discuss the size of this breaking as the parent-meson mass increases. Our analysis is based on the gauge configurations produced by the European Twisted Mass Collaboration with $N_f = 2 + 1 + 1$ flavors of dynamical quarks at three different values of the lattice spacing and with pion masses as small as $210$ MeV., Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures; contribution to the XXXVI International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory (LATTICE2018), East Lansing (Michigan State University, USA), July 22-28, 2018

We present the physics program of the Belle II experiment, located on the intensity frontier SuperKEKB $e^+e^-$ collider. Belle II collected its first collisions in 2018, and is expected to operate for the next decade. It is anticipated to collect 50/ab of collision data over its lifetime. This book is the outcome of a joint effort of Belle II collaborators and theorists through the Belle II theory interface platform (B2TiP), an effort that commenced in 2014. The aim of B2TiP was to elucidate the potential impacts of the Belle II program, which includes a wide scope of physics topics: B physics, charm, tau, quarkonium, electroweak precision measurements and dark sector searches. It is composed of nine working groups (WGs), which are coordinated by teams of theorist and experimentalists conveners: Semileptonic and leptonic B decays, Radiative and Electroweak penguins, phi_1 and phi_2 (time-dependent CP violation) measurements, phi_3 measurements, Charmless hadronic B decay, Charm, Quarkonium(like), tau and low-multiplicity processes, new physics and global fit analyses. This book highlights "golden- and silver-channels", i.e. those that would have the highest potential impact in the field. Theorists scrutinised the role of those measurements and estimated the respective theoretical uncertainties, achievable now as well as prospects for the future. Experimentalists investigated the expected improvements with the large dataset expected from Belle II, taking into account improved performance from the upgraded detector., Comment: 689 pages

We present the first lattice Nf=2+1+1 determination of the tensor form factor $f_T^{D \pi(K)}(q^2)$ corresponding to the semileptonic and rare $D \to \pi(K)$ decays as a function of the squared 4-momentum transfer $q^2$. Together with our recent determination of the vector and scalar form factors we complete the set of hadronic matrix elements regulating the semileptonic and rare $D \to \pi(K)$ transitions within and beyond the Standard Model, when a non-zero tensor coupling is possible. Our analysis is based on the gauge configurations produced by ETMC with Nf=2+1+1 flavors of dynamical quarks, which include in the sea, besides two light mass-degenerate quarks, also the strange and charm quarks with masses close to their physical values. We simulated at three different values of the lattice spacing and with pion masses as small as 220 MeV. The matrix elements of the tensor current are determined for plenty of kinematical conditions in which parent and child mesons are either moving or at rest. As in the case of the vector and scalar form factors, Lorentz symmetry breaking due to hypercubic effects is clearly observed also in the data for the tensor form factor and included in the decomposition of the current matrix elements in terms of additional form factors. After the extrapolations to the physical pion mass and to the continuum and infinite volume limits we determine the tensor form factor in the whole kinematical region accessible in the experiments. A set of synthetic data points, representing our results for $f_T^{D \pi(K)}(q^2)$ for several selected values of $q^2$, is provided and the corresponding covariance matrix is also available. At zero four-momentum transfer we get $f_T^{D \pi}(0) = 0.506 (79)$ and $f_T^{D K}(0) = 0.687 (54)$, which correspond to $f_T^{D \pi}(0)/f_+^{D \pi}(0) = 0.827 (114)$ and $f_T^{D K}(0)/f_+^{D K}(0)= 0.898 (50)$., Comment: 22 pages, 7 figures, 10 tables. Conclusions unchanged. Version to appear in PRD. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1710.07121 and substantial text overlap with arXiv:1706.03017

We present the results of the first lattice QCD calculation of the $K \to \pi$ matrix elements of the chromomagnetic operator $O_{CM} = g\, \bar s\, \sigma_{\mu\nu} G_{\mu\nu} d$, which appears in the effective Hamiltonian describing $\Delta S = 1$ transitions in and beyond the Standard Model. Having dimension 5, the chromomagnetic operator is characterized by a rich pattern of mixing with operators of equal and lower dimensionality. The multiplicative renormalization factor as well as the mixing coefficients with the operators of equal dimension have been computed at one loop in perturbation theory. The power divergent coefficients controlling the mixing with operators of lower dimension have been determined non-perturbatively, by imposing suitable subtraction conditions. The numerical simulations have been carried out using the gauge field configurations produced by the European Twisted Mass Collaboration with $N_f = 2+1+1$ dynamical quarks at three values of the lattice spacing. Our result for the B-parameter of the chromomagnetic operator at the physical pion and kaon point is $B_{CMO}^{K \pi} = 0.273 ~ (70)$, while in the SU(3) chiral limit we obtain $B_{CMO} = 0.072 ~ (22)$. Our findings are significantly smaller than the model-dependent estimate $B_{CMO} \sim 1 - 4$, currently used in phenomenological analyses, and improve the uncertainty on this important phenomenological quantity., Comment: 20 pages, 4 figures, 2 table. Refined SU(3) ChPT analysis with no changes in the final result. Version to appear in PRD

The leading-order electromagnetic and strong isospin-breaking corrections to the ratio of $K_{\mu 2}$ and $\pi_{\mu 2}$ decay rates are evaluated for the first time on the lattice, following a method recently proposed. The lattice results are obtained using the gauge ensembles produced by the European Twisted Mass Collaboration with $N_f = 2 + 1 + 1$ dynamical quarks. Systematics effects are evaluated and the impact of the quenched QED approximation is estimated. Our result for the correction to the tree-level $K_{\mu 2} / \pi_{\mu 2}$ decay ratio is $-1.22\,(16) \%$ to be compared to the estimate $-1.12\,(21) \%$ based on Chiral Perturbation Theory and adopted by the Particle Data Group., Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures; extended supplemental material with 1 table and 1 figure, results unchanged

We present a study of the isospin-breaking (IB) corrections to pseudoscalar (PS) meson masses using the gauge configurations produced by the ETM Collaboration with $N_f=2+1+1$ dynamical quarks at three lattice spacings varying from 0.089 to 0.062 fm. Our method is based on a combined expansion of the path integral in powers of the small parameters $(\widehat{m}_d - \widehat{m}_u)/\Lambda_{QCD}$ and $\alpha_{em}$, where $\widehat{m}_f$ is the renormalized quark mass and $\alpha_{em}$ the renormalized fine structure constant. We obtain results for the pion, kaon and $D$-meson mass splitting; for the Dashen's theorem violation parameters $\epsilon_\gamma(\overline{\mathrm{MS}}, 2~\mbox{GeV})$, $\epsilon_{\pi^0}$, $\epsilon_{K^0}(\overline{\mathrm{MS}}, 2~\mbox{GeV})$; for the light quark masses $(\widehat{m}_d - \widehat{m}_u)(\overline{\mathrm{MS}}, 2~\mbox{GeV})$, $(\widehat{m}_u / \widehat{m}_d)(\overline{\mathrm{MS}}, 2~\mbox{GeV})$; for the flavour symmetry breaking parameters $R(\overline{\mathrm{MS}}, 2~\mbox{GeV})$ and $Q(\overline{\mathrm{MS}}, 2~\mbox{GeV})$ and for the strong IB effects on the kaon decay constants., Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, talk delivered at the XXXV International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory, Granada (Spain), 18-24 June 2017

We present a lattice calculation of the Hadronic Vacuum Polarization (HVP) contribution of the strange and charm quarks to the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon including leading-order electromagnetic (e.m.) corrections. We employ the gauge configurations generated by the European Twisted Mass Collaboration (ETMC) with $N_f = 2+1+1$ dynamical quarks at three values of the lattice spacing ($a \simeq 0.062, 0.082, 0.089$ fm) with pion masses in the range $M_\pi \simeq 210 - 450$ MeV. The strange and charm quark masses are tuned at their physical values. Neglecting disconnected diagrams and after the extrapolations to the physical pion mass and to the continuum limit we obtain: $a_\mu^s(\alpha_{em}^2) = (53.1 \pm 2.5) \cdot 10^{-10}$, $a_\mu^s(\alpha_{em}^3) = (-0.018 \pm 0.011) \cdot 10^{-10}$ and $a_\mu^c(\alpha_{em}^2) = (14.75 \pm 0.56) \cdot 10^{-10}$, $a_\mu^c(\alpha_{em}^3) = (-0.030 \pm 0.013) \cdot 10^{-10}$ for the strange and charm contributions, respectively., Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, talk delivered at the XXXV Int'l Symposium on Lattice Field Theory (LAT17), Granada (Spain), June 18-24, 2017

We present a lattice calculation of the masses and decay constants of $D_{(s)}^*$ and $B_{(s)}^*$ mesons using the gauge configurations produced by the European Twisted Mass Collaboration (ETMC) with $N_f = 2 + 1 + 1$ dynamical quarks at three values of the lattice spacing $a \sim (0.06 - 0.09)$ fm. Pion masses are simulated in the range $M_\pi \simeq (210 - 450)$ MeV, while the strange and charm sea-quark masses are close to their physical values. We compute the ratios of vector to pseudoscalar masses and decay constants for various values of the heavy-quark mass $m_h$ in the range $0.7 m_c^{\mathrm{phys}} \lesssim m_h \lesssim 3 m_c^{\mathrm{phys}}$. In order to reach the physical b-quark mass, we exploit the Heavy Quark Effective Theory prediction that, in the static limit of infinite heavy-quark mass, the considered ratios are equal to one. At the physical point our results are: $M_{D^*} / M_{D} = 1.0769(79)$, $M_{D^*_{s}} / M_{D_{s}} = 1.0751(56)$, $ f_{D^*} / f_{D} = 1.078(36),$ $f_{D^*_{s}} / f_{D_{s}} = 1.087(20)$, $M_{B^*} / M_{B} = 1.0078(15)$, $M_{B^*_{s}} / M_{B_{s}} = 1.0083(10)$, $f_{B^*} / f_{B} = 0.958(22)$ and $f_{B^*_{s}} / f_{B_{s}} = 0.974(10)$. Combining them with the experimental values of the pseudoscalar meson masses (used as input to fix the quark masses) and the values of the pseudoscalar decay constants calculated by ETMC, we get: $M_{D^*} = 2013(14)~\mathrm{MeV}$, $ M_{D_s^*} = 2116(11)~\mathrm{MeV}$, $f_{D^*} = 223.5(8.4)~\mathrm{MeV}$, $f_{D_s^*} = 268.8(6.6)~\mathrm{MeV}$, $M_{B^*} = 5320.5(7.6)~\mathrm{MeV}$, $M_{B_s^*} = 5411.36(5.3)~\mathrm{MeV}$, $f_{B^*} = 185.9(7.2)~\mathrm{MeV}$ and $f_{B_s^*} = 223.1(5.4)~\mathrm{MeV}$., Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures, 3 tables

We present a lattice calculation of the Hadronic Vacuum Polarization (HVP) contribution of the strange and charm quarks to the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon including leading-order electromagnetic corrections. We employ the gauge configurations generated by the European Twisted Mass Collaboration (ETMC) with $N_f = 2+1+1$ dynamical quarks at three values of the lattice spacing ($a \simeq 0.062, 0.082, 0.089$ fm) with pion masses in the range $M_\pi \simeq 210 - 450$ MeV. The strange and charm quark masses are tuned at their physical values. Neglecting disconnected diagrams and after the extrapolations to the physical pion mass and to the continuum limit we obtain: $a_\mu^s(\alpha_{em}^2) = (53.1 \pm 2.5) \cdot 10^{-10}$, $a_\mu^s(\alpha_{em}^3) = (-0.018 \pm 0.011) \cdot 10^{-10}$ and $a_\mu^c(\alpha_{em}^2) = (14.75 \pm 0.56) \cdot 10^{-10}$, $a_\mu^c(\alpha_{em}^3) = (-0.030 \pm 0.013) \cdot 10^{-10}$ for the strange and charm contributions, respectively., Comment: 34 pages, 10 figures, 5 tables; version to appear in JHEP

We present a lattice determination of the vector and scalar form factors of the $D \to \pi(K) \ell \nu$ semileptonic decays, which are relevant for the extraction of the CKM matrix elements $|V_{cd}|$ and $|V_{cs}|$ from experimental data. Our analysis is based on the gauge configurations produced by the European Twisted Mass Collaboration with $N_f = 2+1+1$ flavors of dynamical quarks, at three different values of the lattice spacing and with pion masses as small as 210 MeV. The matrix elements of both vector and scalar currents are determined for a plenty of kinematical conditions in which parent and child mesons are either moving or at rest. Lorentz symmetry breaking due to hypercubic effects is clearly observed in the data and included in the decomposition of the current matrix elements in terms of additional form factors. After the extrapolations to the physical pion mass and to the continuum limit we determine the vector and scalar form factors in the whole kinematical region from $q^2 = 0$ up to $q^2_{max} = (M_D - M_{\pi(K)})^2$ accessible in the experiments, obtaining a good overall agreement with experiments, except in the region at high values of $q^2$ where some deviations are visible. A set of synthetic data points, representing our results for $f_+^{D \pi(K)}(q^2)$ and $f_0^{D \pi(K)}(q^2)$ for several selected values of $q^2$, is provided and also the corresponding covariance matrix is available. At zero 4-momentum transfer we get: $f_+^{D \to \pi}(0) = 0.612 ~ (35)$ and $f_+^{D \to K}(0) = 0.765 ~ (31)$. Using the experimental averages for $|V_{cd}| f_+^{D \to \pi}(0)$ and $|V_{cs}| f_+^{D \to K}(0)$, we extract $|V_{cd}| = 0.2330 ~ (137)$ and $|V_{cs}| = 0.945 ~ (38)$, respectively. The second-row of the CKM matrix is found to be in agreement with unitarity within the current uncertainties: $|V_{cd}|^2 + |V_{cs}|^2 + |V_{cb}|^2 = 0.949 ~ (78)$., Comment: 34 pages, 10 figures, 9 tables. The appendix contains the corrected Tables 7 and 9, in which the appropriate order of the z-expansion parameters corresponds to the entries of the covariance matrices. This version matches the errata Phys. Rev. D99 (2019) 099902(E) and Phys. Rev. D100 (2019) 079901(E)

We present a lattice computation of the isospin-breaking corrections to pseudoscalar meson masses using the gauge configurations produced by the European Twisted Mass collaboration with $N_f = 2 + 1 + 1$ dynamical quarks at three values of the lattice spacing ($a \simeq 0.062, 0.082$ and $0.089$ fm) with pion masses in the range $M_\pi \simeq 210 - 450$ MeV. The strange and charm quark masses are tuned at their physical values. We adopt the RM123 method based on the combined expansion of the path integral in powers of the $d$- and $u$-quark mass difference ($\widehat{m}_d - \widehat{m}_u$) and of the electromagnetic coupling $\alpha_{em}$. Within the quenched QED approximation, which neglects the effects of the sea-quark charges, and after the extrapolations to the physical pion mass and to the continuum and infinite volume limits, we provide results for the pion, kaon and (for the first time) charmed-meson mass splittings, for the prescription-dependent parameters $\epsilon_{\pi^0}$, $\epsilon_\gamma(\overline{MS}, 2~\mbox{GeV})$, $\epsilon_{K^0}(\overline{MS}, 2~\mbox{GeV})$, related to the violations of the Dashen's theorem, and for the light quark mass difference $(\widehat{m}_d - \widehat{m}_u)(\overline{MS}, 2~\mbox{GeV})$., Comment: 47 pages, 20 figures, 4 tables; comments on QED and QCD splitting prescriptions added; version to appear in PRD

In Carrasco et al. we have recently proposed a method to calculate $O(e^2)$ electromagnetic corrections to leptonic decay widths of pseudoscalar mesons. The method is based on the observation that the infrared divergent contributions (that appear at intermediate stages of the calculation and that cancel in physical quantities thanks to the Bloch-Nordsieck mechanism) are universal, i.e. depend on the charge and the mass of the meson but not on its internal structure. In this talk we perform a detailed analysis of the finite-volume effects associated with our method. In particular we show that also the leading $1/L$ finite-volume effects are universal and perform an analytical calculation of the finite-volume leptonic decay rate for a point-like meson., Comment: Corrected a typo affecting the 1/L^3 term. The typo has been discovered from the authors of arXiv:2109.05002

We demonstrate that the leading and next-to-leading finite-volume effects in the evaluation of leptonic decay widths of pseudoscalar mesons at $O(\alpha)$ are universal, i.e. they are independent of the structure of the meson. This is analogous to a similar result for the spectrum but with some fundamental differences, most notably the presence of infrared divergences in decay amplitudes. The leading non-universal, structure-dependent terms are of $O(1/L^2)$ (compared to the $O(1/L^3)$ leading non-universal corrections in the spectrum). We calculate the universal finite-volume effects, which requires an extension of previously developed techniques to include a dependence on an external three-momentum (in our case, the momentum of the final state lepton). The result can be included in the strategy proposed in Ref.\,\cite{Carrasco:2015xwa} for using lattice simulations to compute the decay widths at $O(\alpha)$, with the remaining finite-volume effects starting at order $O(1/L^2)$. The methods developed in this paper can be generalised to other decay processes, most notably to semileptonic decays, and hence open the possibility of a new era in precision flavour physics.

We present a lattice determination of the vector and scalar form factors of the semileptonic $D \to \pi \ell \nu$ decays, which are relevant for the extraction of the CKM matrix element $\lvert V_{cd} \rvert$ from experimental data. Our analysis is based on the gauge configurations produced by the European Twisted Mass Collaboration with $N_f = 2 + 1 + 1$ flavors of dynamical quarks. We simulated at three different values of the lattice spacing and with pion masses as small as 210 MeV. Quark momenta are injected on the lattice using non-periodic boundary conditions. The matrix elements of both vector and scalar currents are determined for a plenty of kinematical conditions in which parent and child mesons are either moving or at rest. Lorentz symmetry breaking due to hypercubic effects is clearly observed in the data and included in the decomposition of the current matrix elements in terms of additional form factors. Our preliminary estimate for the vector form factor at zero 4-momentum transfer is $f_+^{D \to \pi}(0) = 0.631\,(40)$, which can be compared with the latest FLAG average $f_+^{D \to \pi}(0) = 0.666\,(29)$ available only at $N_f = 2 + 1$., Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, in proceedings of the 34th annual International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory, 24-30 July 2016, University of Southampton, (UK)

Electromagnetic effects in the leptonic decay rates $\pi^+ \to \mu^+ \nu$ and $K^+ \to \mu^+ \nu$ are evaluated for the first time on the lattice. Following a method recently proposed in Ref. [1] the emission of virtual photons at leading order in the electromagnetic coupling is evaluated on the lattice and the infrared divergence computed for a point-like meson at finite lattice volume is subtracted. The physical decay rate is then obtained by adding the emission of real and virtual photons regularised with a photon mass. Using the gauge ensembles produced by the European Twisted Mass Collaboration with $N_f = 2 + 1 + 1$ dynamical quarks the feasibility of our approach is demonstrated. Preliminary results for the electromagnetic corrections to charged (neutral) pion and kaon masses as well as to the leptonic decay rates of charged pions and kaons are presented., Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, proceedings of the 34th annual International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory, 24-30 July 2016, University of Southampton (UK)

We present a lattice calculation of the decay constants and masses of $D_{(s)}^*$ and $B_{(s)}^*$ mesons using the gauge configurations produced by the European Twisted Mass Collaboration (ETMC) with $N_f = 2 + 1 + 1$ dynamical quarks and at three values of the lattice spacing $a \sim 0.06 - 0.09$ fm. Pion masses are simulated in the range $m_{\pi} \sim 210 - 450$ MeV, while the strange and charm quark masses are close to their physical values. We computed the ratios of vector to pseudoscalar decay constants or masses for various values of the heavy-quark mass $m_h$ in the range $0.7 m_c^{phys} \lesssim m_h \lesssim 3 m_c^{phys}$. In order to reach the physical b-quark mass, we exploited the HQET prediction that, in the static limit of infinite heavy-quark mass, all the considered ratios are equal to one. We obtain: $ f_{D^*}/f_{D} = 1.078(36),$ $m_{D^*}/m_{D} = 1.0769(79)$, $f_{D^*_{s}}/f_{D_{s}} = 1.087(20)$, $m_{D^*_{s}}m_{D_{s}} = 1.0751(56)$, $f_{B^*}/f_{B} = 0.958(22)$, $m_{B^*}/m_{B} = 1.0078(15)$, $f_{B^*_{s}}/f_{B_{s}} = 0.974(10)$ and $m_{B^*_{s}}/m_{B_{s}} = 1.0083(10)$. Combining them with the corresponding experimental masses from the PDG and the pseudoscalar decay constants calculated by ETMC, we get: $f_{D^*} = 223.5(8.4)~\mathrm{MeV}$, $m_{D^*} = 2013(14)~\mathrm{MeV}$, $f_{D^*_{s}} = 268.8(6.6)~\mathrm{MeV}$, $ m_{D^*_{s}} = 2116(11)~\mathrm{MeV}$, $f_{B^*} = 185.9(7.2)~\mathrm{MeV}$, $m_{B^*} = 5320.5(7.6)~\mathrm{MeV}$, $f_{B^*_{s}} = 223.1(5.4)~\mathrm{MeV}$ and $m_{B^*_{s}}= 5411.36(5.3)~\mathrm{MeV}$., Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, in proceedings of 34th annual International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory, 24-30 July 2016, University of Southampton (UK). In version v2 the quality of the figures is improved

We review lattice results related to pion, kaon, D- and B-meson physics with the aim of making them easily accessible to the particle physics community. More specifically, we report on the determination of the light-quark masses, the form factor f+(0), arising in the semileptonic K -> pi transition at zero momentum transfer, as well as the decay constant ratio fK/fpi and its consequences for the CKM matrix elements Vus and Vud. Furthermore, we describe the results obtained on the lattice for some of the low-energy constants of SU(2)LxSU(2)R and SU(3)LxSU(3)R Chiral Perturbation Theory. We review the determination of the BK parameter of neutral kaon mixing as well as the additional four B parameters that arise in theories of physics beyond the Standard Model. The latter quantities are an addition compared to the previous review. For the heavy-quark sector, we provide results for mc and mb (also new compared to the previous review), as well as those for D- and B-meson decay constants, form factors, and mixing parameters. These are the heavy-quark quantities most relevant for the determination of CKM matrix elements and the global CKM unitarity-triangle fit. Finally, we review the status of lattice determinations of the strong coupling constant alpha_s., Comment: 383 pages, 32 figures, 160 tables, 795 references

We present precise lattice computations for the b-quark mass, the quark mass ratios mb/mc and mb/ms as well as the leptonic B-decay constants. We employ gauge configurations with four dynamical quark flavors, up/down, strange and charm, at three values of the lattice spacing (a ~ 0.06 - 0.09 fm) and for pion masses as low as 210 MeV. Interpolation in the heavy quark mass to the bottom quark point is performed using ratios of physical quantities computed at nearby quark masses exploiting the fact that these ratios are exactly known in the static quark mass limit. Our results are also extrapolated to the physical pion mass and to the continuum limit and read: mb(MSbar, mb) = 4.26(10) GeV, mb/mc = 4.42(8), mb/ms = 51.4(1.4), fBs = 229(5) MeV, fB = 193(6) MeV, fBs/fB = 1.184(25) and (fBs/fB)/(fK/fpi) = 0.997(17)., Comment: Version to appear in PRD. Added comments to simulation setup and error budget discussion. 1+20 pages, 9 figures

We present a lattice QCD determination of the vector and scalar form factors of the semileptonic $K \to \pi \ell \nu$ decay which are relevant for the extraction of the CKM matrix element $|V_{us}|$ from experimental data. Our results are based on the gauge configurations produced by the European Twisted Mass Collaboration with $N_f = 2+1+1$ dynamical fermions, which include in the sea, besides two light mass degenerate quarks, also the strange and the charm quarks. We use data simulated at three different values of the lattice spacing and with pion masses as small as $210$ MeV. Our final result for the vector form factor at zero momentum transfer is $f_+(0) = 0.9709 (46)$, where the uncertainty is both statistical and systematic combined in quadrature. Using the latest experimental value of $f_+(0) |V_{us}|$ from $K_{\ell 3}$ decays, we obtain $|V_{us}| = 0.2230 (11)$, which allows to test the unitarity constraint of the Standard Model below the permille level once the determination of $|V_{ud}|$ from superallowed nuclear $\beta$ decays is adopted. A slight tension with unitarity at the level of $\sim 2$ standard deviations is observed. Moreover we present our results for the semileptonic scalar $f_0(q^2)$ and vector $f_+(q^2)$ form factors in the whole range of values of the squared four-momentum transfer $q^2$ measured in $K_{\ell 3}$ decays, obtaining a very good agreement with the momentum dependence of the experimental data. We provide a set of synthetic data points representing our results for the vector and scalar form factors at the physical point for several selected values of $q^2$., Comment: 37 pages, 5 tables, 9 figures; version to appear in PRD

We present a lattice QCD determination of the vector and scalar form factors of the semileptonic decays D->\pi l \nu and D -> K l \nu which are relevant for the extraction of the CKM matrix elements |Vcd| and |Vcs| from experimental data. Our analysis is based on the gauge configurations produced by the European Twisted Mass Collaboration with Nf = 2+1+1 dynamical fermions. We simulated at three different values of the lattice spacing and with pion masses as small as 210 MeV. Our preliminary estimates for the vector form factor at zero 4-momentum transfer are f+(D -> \pi)(0) = 0.610 (23) and f+(D -> K)(0) = 0.747 (22), where the uncertainties are only statistical. By combining our results with the experimental values of f+(D -> \pi)(0) |Vcd| and f+(D -> K)(0) |Vcs| we obtain |Vcd| = 0.2336 (93) and |Vcs| = 0.975 (30), which together with the PDG determination of |Vcb| are in agreement with the unitarity constraint of the Standard Model., Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Proc. of the XXXIII Int'l Symposium on Lattice Field Theory, 14-18 July 2015, Kobe (Japan)

We present a lattice QCD determination of the vector and scalar form factors of the kaon semileptonic decay $K \to \pi \ell \nu$, which is relevant for the determination of the CKM matrix element $|V_{us}|$ from experimental data. Our results are based on the gauge configurations produced by the European Twisted Mass Collaboration with Nf = 2+1+1 dynamical fermions. We simulated at three different values of the lattice spacing and with pion masses as small as 210 MeV. Our estimate for the vector form factor at zero 4-momentum transfer is $f_+(0) = 0.9709 (46)$, where the uncertainty is both statistical and systematic. By combining our result with the latest experimental value of $f_+(0)|V_{us}|$ we obtain $|V_{us}| = 0.2230 (11)$, which satisfies the unitarity constraint of the Standard Model at the permille level using the updated determination of $|V_{ud}|$ coming from superallowed nuclear $\beta$ decays. We present also the momentum dependence of the vector and scalar form factors in the whole range of values of the squared 4-momentum transfer measured in $K_{\ell 3}$ decays, obtaining a good agreement with the experimental data., Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, to appear in Proc. of the XXXIII Int'l Symposium on Lattice Field Theory, 14-18 July 20-15, Kobe (Japan)

We present our study of the renormalization of the chromomagnetic operator,O(CM), which appears in the effective Hamiltonian describing Delta S = 1 transitions in and beyond the Standard Model. We have computed, perturbatively to one-loop, the relevant Green's functions with two (quark-quark) and three (quark-quark-gluon) external fields, at nonzero quark masses, using both the lattice and dimensional regularizations. The perturbative computation on the lattice is carried out using the maximally twisted-mass action for the fermions, while for the gluons we employed the Symanzik improved gauge action for different sets of values of the Symanzik coefficients. We have identified all the operators which can possibly mix with O(CM), including lower dimensional and non gauge invariant operators, and we have calculated those elements of the mixing matrix which are relevant for the renormalization of O(CM). We have also performed numerical lattice calculations to determine non-perturbatively the mixings of the chromomagnetic operator with lower dimensional operators, through proper renormalization conditions. For the first time the 1/a**2-divergent mixing of the chromomagnetic operator with the scalar density has been determined non-perturbatively with high precision. Moreover, the 1/a-divergent mixing with the pseudoscalar density, due to the breaking of parity within the twisted-mass regularization of QCD, has been calculated non-perturbatively and found to be smaller than its one-loop perturbative estimate. The QCD simulations have been carried out using the gauge configurations produced by the European Twisted Mass Collaboration with Nf = 2 + 1 + 1 dynamical quarks, which include in the sea, besides two light mass degenerate quarks, also the strange and charm quarks with masses close to their physical values., Comment: 28 pages, 13 figures, 7 tables

We present unquenched lattice QCD results for the matrix elements of four-fermion operators relevant to the description of the neutral K and D mixing in the Standard Model and its extensions. We have employed simulations with Nf = 2 + 1 + 1 dynamical sea quarks at three values of the lattice spacings in the interval 0.06 - 0.09 fm and pseudoscalar meson masses in the range 210 - 450 MeV. Our results are extrapolated to the continuum limit and to the physical pion mass. Renormalization constants have been determined non-perturbatively in the RI-MOM scheme. In particular, for the Kaon bag-parameter, which is relevant for the \overline{K}^0-K^0 mixing in the Standard Model, we obtain B_K^{RGI} = 0.717(24)., Comment: Added comments to error budget discussion; fig.19 corrected. Version to appear in PRD

In this paper, for the first time a method is proposed to compute electromagnetic effects in hadronic processes using lattice simulations. The method can be applied, for example, to the leptonic and semileptonic decays of light or heavy pseudoscalar mesons. For these quantities the presence of infrared divergences in intermediate stages of the calculation makes the procedure much more complicated than is the case for the hadronic spectrum, for which calculations already exist. In order to compute the physical widths, diagrams with virtual photons must be combined with those corresponding to the emission of real photons. Only in this way do the infrared divergences cancel as first understood by Bloch and Nordsieck in 1937. We present a detailed analysis of the method for the leptonic decays of a pseudoscalar meson. The implementation of our method, although challenging, is within reach of the present lattice technology., Comment: 38 pages, 14 figures

The Chromomagnetic operator (CMO) mixes with a large number of operators under renormalization. We identify which operators can mix with the CMO, at the quantum level. Even in dimensional regularization (DR), which has the simplest mixing pattern, the CMO mixes with a total of 9 other operators, forming a basis of dimension-five, Lorentz scalar operators with the same flavor content as the CMO. Among them, there are also gauge noninvariant operators; these are BRST invariant and vanish by the equations of motion, as required by renormalization theory. On the other hand using a lattice regularization further operators with $d \leq 5$ will mix; choosing the lattice action in a manner as to preserve certain discrete symmetries, a minimul set of 3 additional operators (all with $d<5$) will appear. In order to compute all relevant mixing coefficients, we calculate the quark-antiquark (2-pt) and the quark-antiquark-gluon (3-pt) Green's functions of the CMO at nonzero quark masses. These calculations were performed in the continuum (dimensional regularization) and on the lattice using the maximally twisted mass fermion action and the Symanzik improved gluon action. In parallel, non-perturbative measurements of the $K-\pi$ matrix element are being performed in simulations with 4 dynamical ($N_f = 2+1+1$) twisted mass fermions and the Iwasaki improved gluon action., Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, 3 tables, LATTICE2014 proceedings

We present preliminary results of the first lattice QCD calculation of the K -> pi matrix elements of the chromomagnetic operator O_{CM}=g sbar sigma_{munu} G_{munu} d, which appears in the effective Hamiltonian describing Delta S=1 transitions in and beyond the Standard Model. Having dimension 5, the chromomagnetic operator is characterized by a rich pattern of mixing with operators of equal and lower dimensionality. The multiplicative renormalization factor as well as the mixing coefficients with the operators of equal dimension have been computed at one-loop in perturbation theory. The power divergent coefficients controlling the mixing with operators of lower dimension have been computed non-perturbatively, by imposing suitable subtraction conditions. The numerical simulations have been carried out using the gauge field configurations produced by the European Twisted Mass Collaboration with N_f=2+1+1 dynamical quarks at three values of the lattice spacing. Our preliminary result for the B-parameter of the chromomagnetic operator is B_{CMO}=0.29(11), which can be compared with the estimate B_{CMO}~1-4 currently used in phenomenological analyses., Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, LATTICE2014 proceedings