Semileptonic B -> rho and B -> a₁ transitions in a quark-meson model

We evaluate the form factors governing the exclusive decays B->rho l nu, B->a_1 l nu, by using an effective quark-meson lagrangian. The model is based on meson-quark interactions, and the computation of the mesonic transition amplitudes is performed by considering diagrams with heavy mesons attached to loops containing heavy and light constituent quarks. This approach was successfully employed to compute the Isgur-Wise form factors and other hadronic observables for negative and positive parity heavy mesons and is presently used for exclusive heavy-to-light weak transitions. We also evaluate a few strong coupling constants appearing in chiral effective lagrangians for heavy and light mesons.