| In this thesis, I explore various aspects of the Standard Model of elementary particles that was established in the 1960s and 1970s. A central theme of current research in high energy physics is trying to determine the parameters in the Standard Model and to understand the origin of CP violation. In particular, the magnitudes and phases of the CKM matrix elements Vub and Vtd are of special interest. Certain rare kaon decays are shown to be theoretically clean and can provide information on Vtd. It is also demonstrated how analyses of angular distributions in B → V V decays can offer additional ways to detect CP asymmetries. In addition to the six observables conventionally noted, there are another three observables that one can obtain by measuring the polarization of the final state particles from the subsequent vector meson decays. A method is described that allows determination of the weak phase of V ub, gamma, with a higher precision from Bd,s → K pi decays using information on beta that is obtained through Bd → y KS experiments. |
