QCD-based interpretation of the lepton spectrum in inclusive $\overline{B}$ --> X$_{u}$l$\overline{\nu}$ decays

We present a QCD-based approach to the endpoint region of the lepton spectrum in $\bar B\to X_u\,\ell\,\bar\nu$ decays. We introduce a genuinely nonperturbative form factor, the shape function, which describes the fall-off of the spectrum close to the endpoint. The moments of this function are related to forward scattering matrix elements of local, higher-dimension operators. We find that nonperturbative effects are dominant over a finite region in the lepton energy spectrum, the width of which is related to the kinetic energy of the $b$-quark inside the $B$ meson. Applications of our method to the extraction of fundamental standard model parameters, among them $V_{ub}$, are discussed in detail.