Model independent determination of the shape function for inclusive b decays and of the structure functions in DIS

We present a method to compute, by numerical simulations of lattice QCD, the inclusive semileptonic differential decay rates of heavy hadrons and the structure functions which occur in deep inelastic scattering. The method is based on first principles and does not require any model assumption. It allows the prediction of the differential rate in B semileptonic decays for values of the recoiling hadronic mass W similar to root M(B)Lambda(QCD), which is in the relevant region to extract \V-ub\ from the end-point of the lepton spectrum in inclusive decays. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.