CERN THEORY INSTITUTE

Tremendous progress has been achieved in recent years in the understanding
of the physics of flavour and of CP violation. This progress was made possible
through the interplay between the data from the e+e- B factories and from
the Tevatron and intensive theoretical work. The results have given evidence
that the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix is the source of flavour violation
and, in particular, that the Kobayashi-Maskawa phase is the dominant source
of CP violation. Yet, a number of results is not quite consistent with the
Standard-Model expectations, implying either a statistical fluctuation, or
an incomplete understanding of the hadronic aspects or, more intriguingly,
intervention of New Physics. Some other aspects of flavour physics and
of CP violation could not yet be investigated.

This scientific adventure will soon be continued at the LHC. At this new
collider, B-decay studies are the domain of LHCb, which will allow us to enter
a new territory in the exploration of CP violation through the full exploitation of
the physics potential of the Bs-meson system. But also ATLAS and CMS can
study some B channels (in particular in the early stage of the LHC) and
make important contributions related to top physics or perhaps to new
flavoured particles. The various theoretical aspects of the corresponding
physics programme are the main targets of the TH Institute, which is intended
to set the stage for the interpretation of the first flavour - B or other - data
from the LHC. Besides these studies, which have a close connection with
the physics programme of the LHC, we would also like to address
general questions concerning New Physics in the flavour sector.

The TH Institute will take place from Monday, May 5th until Friday, June 13th, 2008. The format will be very informal, with a focus on discussions and interactions between the participants. We plan to have daily discussion sessions in the newly refurbished TH common room, which will be complemented by scientific presentations. We plan also to have a lot of interaction with the experimental LHC community at CERN.

The topical structure of the Institute is as follows:

• Week I (May 5-9): Lepton Flavour & Beyond the Standard Model
• Week II (May 13-16): QCD I (sum rules, effective theories, ...)
• Week III (May 19-23): QCD II (lattice, ...)
• Week IV (May 26-30): Focus Week "B@LHC"
• Week V (June 2-6): Beyond the Standard Model
• Week VI (June 9-13): Focus Week "Flavour/High-Q2 Interplay"

The time distribution of the participants can be found here.

The application deadline of Monday, February 4th, 2008 has already
passed. Post deadline applications can still be submitted by contacting
the organizers (e-mail). However, neither participation nor financial
support can be guaranteed at this stage because of the large number
of confirmed participants.