Speaker
Description
Semileptonic $b$-hadron decays provide a laboratory to measure the CKM matrix element $|Vcb|$, as well as test lepton flavor universality violation (LFUV) via the $R(D^{(*)})$ ratios. Measurements of the former exhibit low values that are in tension with inclusive $|V_{cb}|$ measurements, while persistent LFUV signals are observed above the 3 sigma level. This talk provides a survey of recent theoretical developments crucial to both measurements and theoretical predictions, including: the role of form factor parametrizations and truncation orders; convergence of the heavy quark expansion, in particular new results from the theoretically cleaner $\Lambda_b$ baryon decay processes; and important caveats to NP interpretations of the LFUV anomalies, as well as the systematic strategies being developed to resolve them.
