Second-order power corrections in the heavy-quark effective theory. II. Baryon form factors.

Abstract

The analysis of $1/m_Q^2$ corrections of the previous paper is extended to the semileptonic decays of heavy baryons. We focus on the simplest case, the ground state $\Lambda_Q$ baryons, in which the light degrees of freedom are in a state of zero total angular momentum. The formalism, while identical in spirit, is considerably less cumbersome than for heavy mesons. The general results are applied to the semileptonic decay $\Lambda_b\to\Lambda_c\,\ell\,\nu$. An estimate of the leading power corrections to the decay rate at zero recoil, which are of order $1/m_Q^2$, is presented. It is pointed out that a measurement of certain asymmetry parameters would provide a direct measurement of $1/m_Q^2$ corrections. Finally, it is shown how the analysis could be extended to include excited heavy baryons such as the $\Sigma_Q$ and the $\Sigma_Q^*$.