Stefano Actis

NLO Electroweak Corrections to Higgs Boson Production at Hadron Colliders

Results for the complete NLO electroweak corrections to Standard Model Higgs production via gluon fusion are included in the total cross section for hadronic collisions. Artificially large threshold effects are avoided working in the complex-mass scheme. The numerical impact at LHC (Tevatron) energies is explored for Higgs mass values up to 500 GeV (200 GeV). Assuming a complete factorization of the electroweak corrections, one finds a +5% shift with respect to the NNLO QCD cross section for a Higgs mass of 120 GeV both at the LHC and the Tevatron. Adopting two different factorization schemes for the electroweak effects, an estimate of the corresponding total theoretical uncertainty is computed.

NNLO Computational Techniques: the Cases H -> gamma gamma and H -> g g

A large set of techniques needed to compute decay rates at the two-loop level are derived and systematized. The main emphasis of the paper is on the two Standard Model decays H → γγ and H → gg. The techniques, however, have a much wider range of application: they give practical examples of general rules for two-loop renormalization; they introduce simple recipes for handling internal unstable particles in two-loop processes; they illustrate simple procedures for the extraction of collinear logarithms from the amplitude. The latter is particularly relevant to show cancellations, e.g. cancellation of collinear divergencies. Furthermore, the paper deals with the proper treatment of non-enhanced two-loop QCD and electroweak contributions to different physical (pseudo-)observables, showing how they can be transformed in a way that allows for a stable numerical integration. Numerical results for the two-loop percentage corrections to H → γγ, gg are presented and discussed. When applied to the process pp → gg +X → H +X , the results show that the electroweak scaling factor for the cross section is between −4% and +6% in the range 100 GeV < M H < 500 GeV, without incongruent large effects around the physical electroweak thresholds, thereby showing that only a complete implementation of the computational scheme keeps two-loop corrections under control.

NNLO computational techniques: The cases H→γγ and H→gg

A large set of techniques needed to compute decay rates at the two-loop level are derived and systematized. The main emphasis of the paper is on the two Standard Model decays H → γγ and H → gg. The techniques, however, have a much wider range of application: they give practical examples of general rules for two-loop renormalization; they introduce simple recipes for handling internal unstable particles in two-loop processes; they illustrate simple procedures for the extraction of collinear logarithms from the amplitude. The latter is particularly relevant to show cancellations, e.g. cancellation of collinear divergencies. Furthermore, the paper deals with the proper treatment of non-enhanced two-loop QCD and electroweak contributions to different physical (pseudo-)observables, showing how they can be transformed in a way that allows for a stable numerical integration. Numerical results for the two-loop percentage corrections to H → γγ, gg are presented and discussed. When applied to the process pp → gg +X → H +X , the results show that the electroweak scaling factor for the cross section is between −4% and +6% in the range 100 GeV < M H < 500 GeV, without incongruent large effects around the physical electroweak thresholds, thereby showing that only a complete implementation of the computational scheme keeps two-loop corrections under control.

Two-loop renormalization in the Standard Model. Part I: Prolegomena ☆

In this paper the building blocks for the two-loop renormalization of the Standard Model are introduced with a comprehensive discussion of the special vertices induced in the Lagrangian by a particular diagonalization of the neutral sector and by two alternative treatments of the Higgs tadpoles. Dyson resummed propagators for the gauge bosons are derived, and two-loop Ward–Slavnov–Taylor identities are discussed. In part II, the complete set of counterterms needed for the two-loop renormalization will be derived. In part III, a renormalization scheme will be introduced, connecting the renormalized quantities to an input parameter set of (pseudo-)experimental data, critically discussing renormalization of a gauge theory with unstable particles.

Recursive generation of one-loop amplitudes in the Standard Model

A bstractWe introduce the computer code Recola for the recursive generation of tree-level and one-loop amplitudes in the Standard Model. Tree-level amplitudes are constructed using off-shell currents instead of Feynman diagrams as basic building blocks. One-loop amplitudes are represented as linear combinations of tensor integrals whose coefficients are calculated similarly to the tree-level amplitudes by recursive construction of loop off-shell currents. We introduce a novel algorithm for the treatment of colour, assigning a colour structure to each off-shell current which enables us to recursively construct the colour structure of the amplitude efficiently. Recola is interfaced with a tensor-integral library and provides complete one-loop Standard Model amplitudes including rational terms and counterterms. As a first application we consider Z + 2 jets production at the LHC and calculate with Recola the next-to-leading-order electroweak corrections to the dominant partonic channels.

Two-loop renormalization in the Standard Model. Part III: Renormalization equations and their solutions ☆

In parts I and II of this series of papers all elements have been introduced to extend, to two loops, the set of renormalization procedures which are needed in describing the properties of a spontaneously broken gauge theory. In this paper, the final step is undertaken and finite renormalization is discussed. Two-loop renormalization equations are introduced and their solutions discussed within the context of the minimal standard model of fundamental interactions. These equations relate renormalized Lagrangian parameters (couplings and masses) to some input parameter set containing physical (pseudo-)observables. Complex poles for unstable gauge and Higgs bosons are used and a consistent setup is constructed for extending the predictivity of the theory from the Lep1 Z-boson scale (or the Lep2 WW scale) to regions of interest for LHC and ILC physics.

Two-loop fermionic corrections to massive Bhabha scattering

Abstract We evaluate the two-loop corrections to Bhabha scattering from fermion loops in the context of pure quantum electrodynamics. The differential cross section is expressed by a small number of master integrals with exact dependence on the fermion masses m e , m f and the Mandelstam invariants s , t , u . We determine the limit of fixed scattering angle and high energy, assuming the hierarchy of scales m e 2 ≪ m f 2 ≪ s , t , u . The numerical result is combined with the available non-fermionic contributions. As a by-product, we provide an independent check of the known electron-loop contributions.

Two-loop tensor integrals in quantum field theory ☆

Abstract A comprehensive study is performed of general massive, tensor, two-loop Feynman diagrams with two and three external legs. Reduction to generalized scalar functions is discussed. Integral representations, supporting the same class of smoothness algorithms already employed for the numerical evaluation of ordinary scalar functions, are introduced for each family of diagrams.

Virtual Hadronic and Leptonic Contributions to Bhabha Scattering

Using dispersion relations, we derive the complete virtual QED contributions to Bhabha scattering due to vacuum polarization effects. We apply our result to hadronic corrections and to heavy lepton and top quark loop insertions. We give the first complete estimate of their net numerical effects for both small and large angle scattering at typical beam energies of meson factories, the CERN Large Electron-Positron Collider, and the International Linear Collider. With a typical amount of 1-3 per mil they are of relevance for precision experiments.

Two-Loop Threshold Singularities, Unstable Particles and Complex Masses

The effect of threshold singularities induced by unstable particles on two-loop observables is investigated and it is shown how to cure them working in the complex-mass scheme. The impact on radiative corrections around thresholds is thoroughly analyzed and shown to be relevant for two selected LHC and ILC applications: Higgs production via gluon fusion and decay into two photons at two loops in the Standard Model. Concerning Higgs production, it is essential to understand possible sources of large corrections in addition to the well-known QCD effects. It is shown that NLO electroweak corrections can incongruently reach a 10% level around the WW vector-boson threshold without a complete implementation of the complex-mass scheme in the two-loop calculation.