Flavour Physics and CP Violation

Abstract

We explain the many reasons for the interest in flavor physics. We describe flavor physics and the related CP violation within the Standard Model, and explain how the B-factories proved that the Kobayashi-Maskawa mechanism dominates the CP violation that is observed in meson decays. We explain the implications of flavor physics for new physics, with emphasis on the "new physics flavor puzzle", and present the idea of minimal flavor violation as a possible solution. We explain why the values flavor parameters of the Standard Model are puzzling, present the Froggatt-Nielsen mechanism as a possible solution, and describe how measurements of neutrino parameters are interpreted in the context of this puzzle. We show that the recently discovered Higgslike boson may provide new opportunities for making progress on the various flavor puzzles.