Perturbative QCD study of the B -> K* gamma decay - art. no. 054001

We apply the perturbative QCD factorization theorem developed recently for nonleptonic heavy meson decays to the radiative decay B-->K* gamma. In this formalism the evolution of the Wilson coefficients from the W boson mass d own to the characteristic scale of the decay process is governed by the eff ective weak Hamiltonian. The evolution from the characteristic scale to a l ower hadronic scale is formulated by the Sudakov resummation. In addition t o computing the dominant contribution arising from the magnetic-penguin ope rator O-7. We also calculate the contributions of four-quark operators. By fitting our prediction for the branching ratio of the B-->K* gamma decay to the CLEO data, we determine the B meson wave function that possesses a sha rp peak at a low momentum fraction. [S0556-2821(99)01015-2].