Rare Radiative B Decays in the Standard Model

A status report on the theory and phenomenology of rare radiative $B$ decays in the standard model is presented with emphasis on the measured decays $B \to X_s \gamma$ and $B \to K^* \gamma$. Standard model is in agreement with experiments though this comparison is not completely quantitative due to imprecise data and lack of the complete next-to-leading order contributions to the decay rates. Despite this, it is possible to extract non-perturbative parameters from the shape of the photon energy spectrum in $B \to X_s \gamma$, such as the $b$-quark mass and the kinetic energy of the $b$ quark in $B$ hadron. The measured decay rate $\BBGAMAXS =(2.32\pm 0.67) \times 10^{-4}$ can also be used to extract the CKM ratio $\absvts/\absvcb$, yielding $\absvts/\absvcb =1.10 \pm 0.43$. Issues bearing on the determination of the parameters of the CKM matrix from the CKM-suppressed decays $B \to X_d + \gamma$ and $B \to (\rho,\omega) + \gamma$ are also discussed. It is argued that valuable and independent constraints on the CKM matrix can be obtained from the measurements of these decays, in particular those involving neutral $B$-mesons (to appear in the Proceedings of the XXXth Rencontres de Moriond ``Electroweak Interactions and Unified Theories'', Les Arcs, France, March 1995).