Semileptonic decays of polarised top quarks:: V+A admixture and QCD corrections

The semileptonic decays of polarised top quarks are analysed for a general chirality-conserving tbW vertex. We calculate triple and double differential distributions for the charged lepton and the neutrino to order alpha(s) in the QCD coupling. We present these QCD corrections in terms of compact parameterisations that should be useful for the future investigation of the structure of the top decay vertex on the basis of large data samples. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.