<p>We consider QCD radiative corrections to <InlineEquation ID="IEq1"> <EquationSource Format="MATHML"><math display="inline"> <msup> <mi>W</mi> <mo>+</mo> </msup> <msup> <mi>W</mi> <mo>−</mo> </msup> <mi>b</mi> <mover accent="true"> <mi>b</mi> <mo stretchy="true">¯</mo> </mover> </math></EquationSource> <EquationSource Format="TEX">\( {W}^{+}{W}^{-}b\overline{b} \)</EquationSource> </InlineEquation> production with leptonic decays and massive bottom quarks at the LHC. We perform an exact next-to-leading order (NLO) calculation within the <i>q</i><sub><i>T</i></sub>-subtraction formalism and validate it against an independent computation in the dipole subtraction scheme. Non-resonant and off-shell effects related to the top quarks and the leptonic decays of the <i>W</i><sup>±</sup> bosons are consistently included. We also consider the approximation in which the real-emission contribution is computed exactly while the virtual is evaluated in the double-pole approximation (DPA), which formally requires the inclusion of both factorisable and non-factorisable corrections. We evaluate such contributions and show that the DPA performs remarkably well at both the inclusive and differential levels. We then extend our calculation to the next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO). All tree-level and one-loop amplitudes are evaluated exactly, while the missing two-loop virtual contribution is estimated using the DPA. The factorisable two-loop corrections are explicitly computed by relying on available results for the polarised two-loop on-shell top-quark pair production amplitudes and the corresponding top-quark decays. The non-factorisable contributions are inferred by exploiting the cancellation of logarithmic singularities in the Γ<sub><i>t</i></sub> → 0 limit through an on-shell matching procedure. The NNLO corrections for the inclusive cross section are found to increase the NLO prediction by approximately 11%, with a numerical uncertainty that is conservatively estimated to be below the 2% level — significantly smaller than the 5% residual perturbative uncertainties.</p>

错误:搜索内容不能为空,请输入英文关键词
错误:关键词超出字数限制,请精简
高级检索

Towards NNLO QCD predictions for off-shell top-quark pair production and decays

  • Luca Buonocore,
  • Massimiliano Grazzini,
  • Stefan Kallweit,
  • Jonas M. Lindert,
  • Chiara Savoini

摘要

We consider QCD radiative corrections to W + W b b ¯ \( {W}^{+}{W}^{-}b\overline{b} \) production with leptonic decays and massive bottom quarks at the LHC. We perform an exact next-to-leading order (NLO) calculation within the qT-subtraction formalism and validate it against an independent computation in the dipole subtraction scheme. Non-resonant and off-shell effects related to the top quarks and the leptonic decays of the W± bosons are consistently included. We also consider the approximation in which the real-emission contribution is computed exactly while the virtual is evaluated in the double-pole approximation (DPA), which formally requires the inclusion of both factorisable and non-factorisable corrections. We evaluate such contributions and show that the DPA performs remarkably well at both the inclusive and differential levels. We then extend our calculation to the next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO). All tree-level and one-loop amplitudes are evaluated exactly, while the missing two-loop virtual contribution is estimated using the DPA. The factorisable two-loop corrections are explicitly computed by relying on available results for the polarised two-loop on-shell top-quark pair production amplitudes and the corresponding top-quark decays. The non-factorisable contributions are inferred by exploiting the cancellation of logarithmic singularities in the Γt → 0 limit through an on-shell matching procedure. The NNLO corrections for the inclusive cross section are found to increase the NLO prediction by approximately 11%, with a numerical uncertainty that is conservatively estimated to be below the 2% level — significantly smaller than the 5% residual perturbative uncertainties.