This 2nd edition is an extensive update of 'B Decays”. The revisions are necessary because of the extensive amount of new data and new theoretical ideas. This book reviews what is known about b-quark decays and also looks at what can be learned in the future.The importance of this research area is increasing, as evidenced by the approval of the luminosity upgrade for CESR and the asymmetric B factories at SLAC and KEK, and the possibility of experiments at hadron colliders.The key experimental observations made thus far, measurement of the lifetimes of the different B species, B0-B0 mixing, the discovery of “Penguin” mediated decays, and the extraction of the CKM matrix elements Vub and Vcb from semileptonic decays, as well as more mundane results, are described in great detail by the experimentalists who have been closely involved with making the measurements. Theoretical progress in understanding b-quark decays using HQET and lattice gauge techniques are described by theorists who have developed and used these techniques.Synthesizing the experimental and theoretical information, several articles discuss the implications for the “Standard Model” and how further tests can be done using measurements of CP violation in the B system.

The study of b quarks has now reached a stage where it is useful to review what has been learned so far and also to look at the implications of future studies. The most important observations thus far measurement of the B lifetime, B0 B0 mixing, and the observation of b? u transitions, as well as more mundane results on hadronic and semileptonic transitions are described in detail by experimentalists who have been closely involved with the measurements. Theoretical progress in understanding b quark decays, including the mechanisms of hadronic and semileptonic decays, are described. Synthesizing the experimental and theoretical information, the authors discuss tests of the standard model and measurements of standard model parameters. Possibilities of more extensive tests using measurement of CP violation in the B system are also addressed.

This conference series reviews progress in understanding the physics of the 5th quark (beauty quark or bottom quark) and the properties of particles containing a b-quark. These quarks are produced at particle accelerators such as electron-positron accelerators or hadron colliders with the latter being the focus of the conference. One of the main issues in understanding the physics of the 5th quark is CP violation, a mechanism in particle physics that breaks the symmetry of nature between particles and antiparticles ultimately connected to the particle-antiparticle asymmetry of the universe. Topics include: recent results; CP violation; B production and spectroscopy; detectors, hardware, and computing; Vucb, Vub, and factorization; B lifetimes and mixing; rare decays; B trigger at future experiments; B physics at future hadron machines; the future of flavor.