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 -> gamma gamma and H -> g g. 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 -> gamma gamma, g g 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 < Mh < 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.
Recent developements in the calculation of the NNLO QCD corrections to the charm quark mass dependent matrix elements in B -> X_s gamma are reported. Special emphasis is put on the new results of the virtual O(alpha_s^2) fermionic contribution to these matrix elements [1].
The full prediction of the inclusive radiative B -> Xs gamma decay rate at NNLO requires a complete evaluation of missing charm quark mass dependent matrix elements. Recent developments in the on-going computations are reported and the current status is briefly overviewed.
The theoretical status of NNLO QCD corrections to the inclusive radiative anti-B -> X_s gamma decay in the standard model is briefly overviewed. Emphasis is put on recent results for three-loop fermionic corrections to matrix elements of the most relevant four-quark operators.
Current status of the NNLO QCD corrections to B -> X_s gamma is reviewed. The calculations include three-loop matching conditions, four-loop anomalous dimensions as well as two- and three-loop on-shell amplitudes. Certain parts of the three-loop matrix elements are found by interpolation in the charm quark mass between the large-beta_0 approximation in the m_c=0 case and the complete result in the m_c >> m_b/2 case.
We calculate the contribution of the partonic processes gg->WZ q\bar{q} and gg -> W gamma q\bar{q} to WZ and W gamma pair production at hadron colliders, including anomalous triple gauge-boson couplings. We use the helicity method and include the decay of the W and Z-boson into leptons in the narrow-width approximation. In order to integrate over the q\bar{q} final state phase space we use an extended version of the subtraction method to NNLO and remove collinear singularities explicitly. Due to the large gluon density at low x, the gluon induced terms of vector-boson pair production are expec…
By combining a recent estimate of the total B-->X_s gamma branching fraction at O(alpha_s^2) with a detailed analysis of the effects of a cut E_gamma>1.6GeV on photon energy, a prediction for the partial B-->X_s gamma branching fraction at next-to-next-to-leading order in renormalization-group improved perturbation theory is obtained, in which contributions from all relevant scales are properly factorized. The result Br(B-->X_s gamma)=(2.98+-0.26)x10^{-4} is about 1.4 sigma lower than the experimental world average. This opens a window for significant New Physics contributions in rare radiativ…
Strengthening constraints on new physics from the B -> X_s gamma branching ratio requires improving accuracy in the measurements and the Standard Model predictions. To match the expected Belle-II accuracy, Next-to-Next-to-Leading Order (NNLO) QCD corrections must be calculated without the so-far employed interpolation in the charm-quark mass m_c. In the process of evaluating such corrections at the physical value of m_c, we have finalized the part coming from diagrams with closed fermion loops on the gluon lines that contribute to the interference of the current-current and photonic dipole ope…
The next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) QCD corrections to top quark threshold pair production in gamma-gamma collisions are computed. The NNLO effects turn out to be significant. Threshold cross sections in gamma-gamma and e+e- collisions are compared.
We compute the virtual O(alpha_s^2) fermionic contributions to the charm quark mass dependent matrix elements of the B -> X_s gamma decay. In the case of a massless quark loop insertion into the gluon propagator, our result obtained as an expansion in z=m_c^2/m_b^2 and an exact expression in terms of multi-fold MB integrals, confirms the findings of Bieri, Greub and Steinhauser [19]. We observe, however, large deviations in the case of a b-quark loop insertion.The charm quark loop shows smaller, but still noticeable differences.
We discuss the prescription for the Dirac matrix gamma_5 in dimensional regularization used in most second- and third-order QCD calculations of collider cross sections. We provide an alternative implementation of this approach that avoids the use of an explicit form of gamma_5 and of its (anti-) commutation relations in the most important case of no more than one gamma_5 in each fermion trace. This treatment is checked by computing the third-order corrections to the structure functions F_2 and g_1 in charged-current deep-inelastic scattering with axial-vector couplings to the W-bosons. We deri…
One of the most troublesome contributions to the NNLO QCD corrections to B -> X_s gamma originates from three-loop matrix elements of four-quark operators. A part of this contribution that is proportional to the QCD beta-function coefficient beta_0 was found in 2003 as an expansion in m_c/m_b. In the present paper, we evaluate the asymptotic behaviour of the complete contribution for m_c >> m_b/2. The asymptotic form of the beta_0-part matches the small-m_c expansion very well at the threshold m_c = m_b/2. For the remaining part, we perform an interpolation down to the measured value of m_c, a…
The complete two-loop expression for the jet function J(p^2,mu) of soft-collinear effective theory is presented, including non-logarithmic terms. Combined with our previous calculation of the soft function S(omega,mu), this result provides the basis for a calculation of the effect of a photon-energy cut in the measurement of the B-->X_s+gamma decay rate at next-to-next-to-leading order in renormalization-group improved perturbation theory. The jet function is also relevant to the resummation of Sudakov logarithms in other hard QCD processes.
A theoretical analysis of the partial inclusive B-->X_s gamma decay rate with a cut E_gamma>E_0 on photon energy must deal with short-distance contributions associated with three different mass scales: the hard scale m_b, an intermediate scale \sqrt{m_b Delta}, and a soft scale Delta, where Delta=m_b-2E_0=1GeV for E_0=1.8GeV. The cut-dependent effects are described in terms of two perturbative objects called the jet function and the soft function, which for a next-to-next-to-leading order analysis of the decay rate are required with two-loop accuracy. The two-loop calculation of the soft funct…
In this short review, the calculation of the next-to-next-to-leading order QCD corrections to the inclusive radiative decay B -> X_s gamma is described. I summarize the salient features of the calculational framework adopted, discuss the results obtained in the last few years, and indicate the technical tools that made the NNLO calculations possible. I conclude by comparing the current NNLO theoretical estimate for the branching ratio with the experimental measurement and by briefly discussing the size and origin of the residual theoretical uncertainty.
We compute the differential B -> X_s gamma decay width in the Standard Model as a function of the photon energy using Dressed Gluon Exponentiation (DGE). The resummed spectrum is matched with the fixed-order expansion, making use of the next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) results for the matrix element of the magnetic dipole interaction O_7 and NLO ones for other operators in the effective Weak Hamiltonian. We develop a new technique to implement constraints on the analytic structure of the Sudakov factor in moment space. This improves the behavior of the resummed spectrum away from the Sudak…
We evaluate all phase space master integrals which are required for the total cross section of generic 2 -> 1 processes at NNLO as a series expansion in the dimensional regulator epsilon. Away from the limit of threshold production, our expansion includes one order higher than what has been available in the literature. At threshold, we provide expressions which are valid to all orders in terms of Gamma functions and hypergeometric functions. These results are a necessary ingredient for the renormalization and mass factorization of singularities in 2 -> 1 inclusive cross sections at NNNLO in QC…
We study the resummation of singular distributions for electroweak-boson production at large transverse momentum in hadronic collisions. We describe the factorization properties of the cross section near partonic threshold and construct the resummed cross section at next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy in moment space in terms of soft gluon anomalous dimensions. We present full analytical results for the expansion of the resummed cross section up to next-to-next-to-leading order. Our results can be applied to W, Z, and virtual gamma production at hadron colliders.
We compute the O(α_s^2) contributions to the photon energy spectrum of the inclusive decay \bar{B} -> X_s γassociated with the magnetic penguin operator O_7. They are an essential part of the ongoing NNLO calculation of this important decay. We use two different methods to evaluate the master integrals, one based on the differential equation approach and the other on sector decomposition, leading to identical results which in turn agree with those of a recent independent calculation by Melnikov and Mitov. We study the numerical relevance of this set of NNLO contributions in the photon energy s…
The next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) corrections in massless perturbative QCD are derived for the parton distributions of the photon and the deep inelastic structure functions F_1^gamma and F_2^gamma. We present the full photonic coefficient functions at order alpha alpha_s and calculate the first six even-integer moments of the corresponding O(alpha alpha_s^2) photon-quark and photon-gluon splitting functions together with the moments of the alpha alpha_s^2 coefficient functions which enter only beyond NNLO. These results are employed to construct parametrizations of the splitting functio…
We update the standard model predictions for the branching ratios of the decays B -> (K,K*,Xs) l^+ l^-, with l=e,mu. Using the measurements of BR(B -> Xs gamma) and BR(B -> K l^+ l^-) as well as the upper limits on BR(B -> (K*,Xs) l^+ l^-)$, we work out model independent bounds on the relevant Wilson coefficients. We show the impact of such bounds on the parameter space of the MSSM with minimal flavour violation and of supersymmetric models with additional sources of flavour changing.
Weak radiative decays of the B mesons belong to the most important flavor changing processes that provide constraints on physics at the TeV scale. In the derivation of such constraints, accurate standard model predictions for the inclusive branching ratios play a crucial role. In the current Letter we present an update of these predictions, incorporating all our results for the O(alpha_s^2) and lower-order perturbative corrections that have been calculated after 2006. New estimates of nonperturbative effects are taken into account, too. For the CP- and isospin-averaged branching ratios, we fin…
The inclusive radiative decay of the B meson is known to provide strong constraints on many popular extensions of the Standard Model. Such constraints crucially depend on precision of the Standard Model predictions. One of the main contributions to the theoretical uncertainty is due to certain Next-to-Next-to-Leading Order QCD corrections whose values at the physical charm quark mass m_c have been estimated using interpolation between the m_c=0 and m_c >> m_b limits. A direct determination of such corrections at the physical value of m_c requires calculating hundreds of two-scale four-loop pro…
We present details of our evaluation of the NNLO QCD corrections to BR(B -> X_s gamma) in the heavy charm limit m_c >> m_b/2. Results of this calculation have been essential for estimating O(alpha_s^2) effects in this branching ratio via interpolation in m_c.
In this paper we illustrate the simplifications produced by FDR in NNLO computations. We show with an explicit example that - due to its four-dimensionality - FDR does not require an order-by-order renormalization and that, unlike the one-loop case, FDR and dimensional regularization (DR) generate intermediate two-loop results which are no longer linked by a simple subtraction of the ultraviolet (UV) poles in epsilon. Our case study is the two-loop amplitude for H -> gamma gamma, mediated by an infinitely heavy top loop, in the presence of gluonic corrections. We use this to elucidate how gaug…
We report on the first calculation of the structure function g_1 in polarised deep-inelastic scattering to the third order in massless perturbative QCD. The calculation follows the dispersive approach already used for the corresponding unpolarised cases of F_2,L, but additionally involves higher tensor integrals and the Dirac matrix gamma_5 in D unequal 4 dimensions. Our results confirm all known two-loop expressions including the coefficient functions of Zijlstra and van Neerven not independently verified before. At three loops we extract the helicity-difference next-to-next-to-leading order …
We present an analytic computation of the Higgs production cross section in the gluon fusion channel, which is differential in the components of the Higgs momentum and inclusive in the associated partonic radiation through NNLO in perturbative QCD. Our computation includes the necessary higher order terms in the dimensional regulator beyond the finite part that are required for renormalisation and collinear factorisation at N$^3$LO. We outline in detail the computational methods which we employ. We present numerical predictions for realistic final state observables, specifically distributions …
We outline the computational details to obtain mixed EW-QCD corrections to on-shell production of a single vector boson at the LHC at two-loop level. We use the method of differential equation to obtain the pure virtual, real-virtual and double-real master integrals. Finally, we obtain the ${\cal O}(αα_s)$ corrections to the total partonic cross section of the process $q \bar{q} \rightarrow Z + X$.
We consider direct diphoton production in hadron collisions. We compute the next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) QCD radiative corrections at the fully-differential level. Our calculation uses the q_T subtraction formalism and it is implemented in a parton level Monte Carlo program, which allows the user to apply arbitrary kinematical cuts on the final-state photons and the associated jet activity, and to compute the corresponding distributions in the form of bin histograms. We present selected numerical results related to Higgs boson searches at the LHC, and we show how the NNLO corrections t…
The current status of B -> Xs gamma decay rate calculations is summarized. Missing ingredients at the NNLO level are listed. The global normalization factor and non-perturbative effects are discussed. Arguments are presented that results for the cutoff-enhanced perturbative corrections have been misused in Ref. [15] by applying them in the region E_gamma \in [1.0, 1.6] GeV, which means that the corresponding numerical effect on BR(B -> Xs gamma, E_gamma > 1.6 GeV) is unreliable.
We compute the effective hamiltonian for non-leptonic |Delta F| = 1 decays in the standard model including next-to-next-to-leading order QCD corrections. In particular, we present the complete three-loop anomalous dimension matrix describing the mixing of current-current and QCD penguin operators. The calculation is performed in an operator basis which allows to consistently use fully anticommuting gamma_5 in dimensional regularization at an arbitrary number of loops. The renormalization scheme dependences and their cancellation in physical quantities is discussed in detail. Furthermore, we de…
I present a unified approach to calculating the next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) soft and virtual QCD corrections to cross sections for electroweak, Higgs, QCD, and SUSY processes. I derive master formulas that can be used for any of these processes in hadron-hadron and lepton-hadron collisions. The formulas are based on a unified threshold resummation formalism and can be applied to both total and differential cross sections for processes with either simple or complex color flows and for various factorization schemes and kinematics. As a test of the formalism, I rederive known NNLO result…
We report on recent theoretical progress in radiative B decays. We focus on a calculation of logarithmically enhanced QED corrections to the branching ratio and forward-backward asymmetry in the inclusive rare decay anti-B --> X(s) l+ l-, and present the results of a detailed phenomenological analysis. We also report on the calculation of NNLO QCD corrections to the inclusive decay anti-B --> X(s) gamma. As far as exclusive modes are concerned we consider transversity amplitudes and the impact of right-handed currents in the exclusive anti-B --> K^* l+ l- decay. Finally, we state results for e…
The flavor-changing electromagnetic dipole operator O_7 gives the dominant contribution to the B -> Xs gamma decay rate. We calculate two-loop QCD corrections to its matrix element together with the corresponding bremsstrahlung contributions. The optical theorem is applied, and the relevant imaginary parts of three-loop diagrams are computed following the lines of our recent t -> Xb W calculation. The complete result allows us to test the validity of the naive non-abelianization (NNA) approximation that has been previously applied to estimate the NNLO QCD correction to Gamma(B -> Xs gamma)/Gam…
I summarize results and performance of the dynamical theory of charmless hadronic B decays, based on QCD factorization in the heavy quark limit. On the theoretical side, a number of NNLO (alpha_s^2) amplitudes are now available, all showing a well-behaved perturbative expansion. The large observed branching fraction in B0 -> pi0 pi0 remains a challenge, implying either a large inverse moment of the B-meson wave function or a sizable power correction (or unexpected new physics). B-factory/Belle2 analyses of B -> gamma l nu may shed light on this. On the other hand, the new Belle and LHCb measur…
In view of future plans for accurate measurements of the theoretically clean branching ratios Br(K+ -> pi+ nu nu) and Br(KL -> pi0 nu nu), that should take place in the next decade, we collect the relevant formulae for quantities of interest and analyze their theoretical and parametric uncertainties. We point out that in addition to the angle beta in the unitarity triangle (UT) also the angle gamma can in principle be determined from these decays with respectable precision and emphasize in this context the importance of the recent NNLO QCD calculation of the charm contribution to K+ -> pi+ nu …
We present the mixed QCD-EW two-loop virtual amplitudes for the neutral current Drell-Yan production, one of the bottlenecks for the complete calculation of the NNLO mixed QCD-EW corrections. We present the computational details and the first steps towards their automation. We describe the evaluation of all the relevant two-loop Feynman integrals using analytical and semi-analytical methods, the subtraction of the universal infrared singularities and present the numerical evaluation of the finite remainder.
We calculate the complete NNLO QCD corrections to the charm contribution of the rare decay K+ -> pi+ nu nu-bar. We encounter several new features, which were absent in lower orders. We discuss them in detail and present the results for the 2-loop matching conditions of the Wilson coefficients, the 3-loop anomalous dimensions, and the 2-loop matrix elements of the relevant operators that enter the NNLO renormalization group analysis of the Z-penguin and the electroweak box contribution. The inclusion of the NNLO QCD corrections leads to a significant reduction of the theoretical uncertainty fro…
Using two different approaches, we perform updated and detailed calculations of the complete one-loop (Next-to-Leading Order (NLO)) set of electroweak radiative corrections to the parity violating e- e- -> e- e- (gamma) scattering asymmetry. Our first approach, more classical, relies on calculations "by hand" with reasonable approximations. Our second approach relies on program packages FeynArts, FormCalc, LoopTools, and FORM. The detailed numerical analysis of the various contributions is provided for a wide range of energies relevant for the ultra-precise 11 GeV MOLLER experiment planned at …
This report was prepared in the context of the LPCC "Electroweak Precision Measurements at the LHC WG" and summarizes the activity of a subgroup dedicated to the systematic comparison of public Monte Carlo codes, which describe the Drell-Yan processes at hadron colliders, in particular at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC). This work represents an important step towards the definition of an accurate simulation framework necessary for very high-precision measurements of electroweak (EW) observables such as the $W$ boson mass and the weak mixing angle. All the codes considered in this report s…
We calculate all planar contributions to the two-loop massless helicity amplitudes for the process $q\bar q\to γγγ$. The results are presented in fully analytic form in terms of the functional basis proposed recently by Chicherin and Sotnikov. With this publication we provide the two-loop contributions already used by us in the NNLO QCD calculation of the LHC process $pp\to γγγ$ [Chawdhry et al. (2019)]. Our results agree with a recent calculation of the same amplitude [Abreu et al. (2020)] which was performed using different techniques. We combine several modern computational techniques, nota…
