This is the first advanced systematic and comprehensive look at weak decays in the framework of gauge theories. Included is a large spectrum of topics both theoretical and experimental. In addition to explicit advanced calculations of Feynman diagrams and the study of renormalization group strong interaction effects in weak decays the book is devoted to the Standard Model Effective Theory dominating present phenomenology in this field and to new physics models with the goal of searching for new particles and interactions through quantum fluctuations. This book will benefit theorists experimental researchers and Ph. D. students working on flavour physics and weak decays as well as physicists interested in physics beyond the Standard Model. In its concern for the search for new phenomena at short distance scales through the interplay between theory and experiment this book constitutes a travel guide to physics far beyond the scales explored by the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. Language: English