On the determination of |V_{ub}| from inclusive semileptonic B decays

Abstract

Precision tests of the CKM mechanism and searches for new physics in the flavour sector require dedicated QCD calculations of decay widths and spectra. Significant progress has been achieved in recent years in computing inclusive B decay spectra into light energetic partons. I briefly review different theoretical approaches to this problem focusing on the determination of |V_{ub}| from inclusive semileptonic decays and show that this determination is robust. The largest uncertainty is associated with the value of the b quark mass. Finally I present new numerical results in the DGE resummation-based approach, now including O(beta_0 alpha_s^2) corrections. The results are presented for all relevant experimental cuts, from which a preliminary average is derived: |V_{ub}| = (4.30 \pm 0.16 (exp) ^{+0.09}_{-0.13} (th) ^{+0.39}_{-0.34} (m_b)) 10^{-3}, where the PDG value of the b quark mass, m_b^{\MSbar} = 4.20 \pm 0.07 GeV, is assumed.