An effective field theory for heavy quarks at low energies

Abstract

I construct a Lorentz invariant effective field theory description of QCD in the presence of heavy quarks at energies large compared to the QCD scale and small compared to the heavy quark mass, formalizing the ideas of Isgur and Wise and of Eichten and Hill. The theory is built by “integrating in” degrees of freedom to implement a superselection rule for the velocity of the heavy quark.