The role of RICH particle identification in /B physics. Recent results and perspectives

The use of RICH detectors for hadron identification at collider experiments has played a major role in a wide range of studies of production and decays of the b quark. These include the characterisation of the strange beauty meson B _s⁰ and beauty baryons, spectroscopy, analysis of neutral B meson oscillations and of rare decays. A selection of these results is presented and the analysis techniques developed are discussed. In addition to the contribution of these data to the understanding of the mechanisms of weak decays of the b quark, the experience gained in the use of RICH detectors in B physics is also relevant for the next generation of dedicated experiments relying on RICH detectors for the study of CP violation in the B system and of rare B decays.