HERA-B: physics potential and prospects

HERA-B is a hadroproduction experiment located at DESY in Hamburg, Germany. The experiment produces B mesons and baryons by inserting thin wire targets into the halo of the proton beam circulating in the HERA storage ring. The B decays are studied to search for evidence of CP violation and constrain the angle beta and possibly gamma and alpha of the CKM unitarity triangle. The experiment also produces B, mesons; these decays are studied to measure or constrain the mass difference Delta m(s) and width difference Delta Gamma(s) between the two B-s(0)/B-s(0) mass eigenstates. Finally, the large number of B's produced allows HERA-B to search for rare and forbidden decays such as B --> K-(*())l(1)(+)l(2)(-). The experiment is scheduled to begin running in early 2000. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.