Applications of QCD Factorization in Hadronic B Decays

Abstract

We review recent advances in the theory of strong-interaction effects and final-state interactions in hadronic weak decays of heavy mesons. In the heavy-quark limit, the amplitudes for most nonleptonic, two-body B decays can be calculated from first principles and expressed in terms of semileptonic form factors and light-cone distribution amplitudes. We summarize the main features of this novel QCD factorization and discuss its phenomenological applications to B -> D^(*) L decays (with L a light meson), and to the rare charmless decays B -> pi K and B -> pi pi.