Two-Loop Master Integrals for $q \bar{q} \to V V$: the Planar Topologies
Thomas Gehrmann, Lorenzo Tancredi, Erich Weihs
备注：
v2, 53 pages, 1 figure, references added and typos fixed, version published in JHEP. Files with the results in Mathematica and FORM format are included with the submission
The two-loop QCD corrections to vector boson pair production at hadron colliders involve a new class of Feynman integrals: two-loop four-point functions with two off-shell external legs. We describe their reduction to a small set of master integrals by solving linear relations among them. We then use differential equations in the external invariants to compute all master integrals that are relevant to planar Feynman amplitudes. Our results are expressed analytically in terms of generalised harmonic polylogarithms. The calculation relies heavily on techniques that exploit the algebraic structure of these functions, which we describe in detail.
The calculation of the two-loop corrections to the three-jet production rate and to event shapes in electron--positron annihilation requires the computation of a number of two-loop four-point master integrals with one off-shell and three on-shell legs. Up to now, only those master integrals corresponding to planar topologies were known. In this paper, we compute the yet outstanding non-planar master integrals by solving differential equations in the external invariants which are fulfilled by these master integrals. We obtain the master integrals as expansions in $\e=(4-d)/2$, where $d$ is the …
The calculation of the two-loop corrections to the three jet production rate and to event shapes in electron-positron annihilation requires the computation of a number of up to now unknown two-loop four-point master integrals with one off-shell and three on-shell legs. In this paper, we compute those master integrals which correspond to planar topologies by solving differential equations in the external invariants which are fulfilled by the master integrals. We obtain the master integrals as expansions in $\e=(4-d)/2$, where $d$ is the space-time dimension. The results are expressed in terms o…
We calculate analytically the three-loop planar master integrals relevant for heavy-to-light form factors using the method of differential equations. After choosing a proper canonical basis, the boundary conditions are easy to be determined, and the solution of differential equations is greatly simplified. The results for seventy-one master integrals at general kinematics are all expressed in terms of harmonic polylogarithms.
We consider the virtual corrections to the process $gg\to HH$ at NLO in the high energy limit and compute the corresponding planar master integrals in an expansion for small top quark mass. We provide details on the evaluation of the boundary conditions and present analytic results expressed in terms of harmonic polylogarithms.
We present the values of the complete set of planar four-point Master Integrals needed for massive Bhabha scattering in the limit of fixed angle and high energy at the two-loop level. The integrals have been calculated using direct expansions of Mellin-Barnes representations, followed by a resummation of resulting harmonic series.
We present the analytic calculation of the planar master integrals which contribute to compute the two-loop light-fermion electroweak corrections to the production of a Higgs boson in association with a jet in gluon-gluon fusion. The complete dependence on the electroweak-boson mass is retained. The master integrals are evaluated by means of the differential equations method and the analytic results are expressed in terms of multiple polylogarithms up to weight four.
We present the analytic calculation of the Master Integrals for the two-loop, non-planar topologies that enter the calculation of the amplitude for top-quark pair hadroproduction in the quark-annihilation channel. Using the method of differential equations, we expand the integrals in powers of the dimensional regulator $ε$ and determine the expansion coefficients in terms of generalized harmonic polylogarithms of two dimensionless variables through to weight four.
We present the analytic computation of the master integrals associated to certain two-loop non-planar topologies, which are needed to complete the evaluation of the last two color coefficients for the top-pair production in the quark-annihilation channel, which are not yet known analytically. The master integrals have been computed exploiting the differential equations method in canonical form. The solution is given as a series expansion in the dimensional regularization parameter through to weight four, the expansion coefficients are given in terms of multiple polylogarithms.
We calculate analytically the master integrals of a planar double-box family for top-quark pair production using the method of differential equations. With a proper choice of the bases, the differential equations can be transformed to the $d$-log form. The square roots of the kinematic variables in the differential equations can be rationalized by defining two dimensionless variables. We find that all the boundary conditions can be fully fixed either by simple integrals or regularity conditions at some special kinematic points. The analytic results for thirty-three master integrals at general …
We complete the analytic evaluation of the master integrals for the two-loop non-planar box diagrams contributing to the top-pair production in the quark-initiated channel, at next-to-next-to-leading order in QCD. The integrals are determined from their differential equations, which are cast into a canonical form using the Magnus exponential. The analytic expressions of the Laurent series coefficients of the integrals are expressed as combinations of generalized polylogarithms, which we validate with several numerical checks. We discuss the analytic continuation of the planar and the non-plana…
Recent developments in the computation of two-loop master integrals for massive Bhabha scattering are briefly reviewed. We apply a method based on expansions of exact Mellin-Barnes representations and evaluate all planar four-point master integrals in the approximation of small electron mass at fixed scattering angle for the one-flavor case. The same technique is employed to derive and evaluate also all two-loop masters generated by additional fermion flavors. The approximation is sufficient for the determination of QED two-loop corrections for Bhabha scattering in the kinematics planned to be…
We present the calculation of all non-planar master integrals that are needed to describe production of two off-shell vector bosons in collisions of two massless partons through NNLO in perturbative QCD. The integrals are computed analytically using differential equations in external kinematic variables and expressed in terms of Goncharov polylogarithms. These results provide the last missing ingredient needed for the computation of two-loop amplitudes that describe the production of two gauge bosons with different invariant masses in hadron collisions.
We present analytic results for the two tennis-court integral families relevant to $2\to2$ scattering processes involving one massive external particle and massless propagators in terms of Goncharov polylogarithms of up to transcendental weight six. We also present analytic results for physical kinematics for the ladder-box family and the two tennis-court families in terms of real-valued polylogarithmic functions, making our solutions well-suited for phenomenological applications.
We present the analytic calculation of the Master Integrals necessary to compute the planar massive QCD corrections to Di-photon (and Di-jet) production at hadron colliders. The masters are evaluated by means of the differential equations method and expressed in terms of multiple polylogarithms and one- or two-fold integrals of polylogarithms and irrational functions, up to transcendentality four.
The three-loop form factors in massless QCD can be expressed as a linear combination of master integrals. Besides a number of master integrals which factorise into products of one-loop and two-loop integrals, one finds 16 genuine three-loop integrals. Of these, six have the form of a bubble insertion inside a one-loop or two-loop vertex integral. We compute all master integrals with these insertion topologies.
We analytically evaluate the master integrals for the second type of planar contributions to the massive two-loop Bhabha scattering in QED using differential equa- tions with canonical bases. We obtain results in terms of multiple polylogarithms for all the master integrals but one, for which we derive a compact result in terms of elliptic mul- tiple polylogarithms. As a byproduct, we also provide a compact analytic result in terms of elliptic multiple polylogarithms for an integral belonging to the first family of planar Bhabha integrals, whose computation in terms of polylogarithms was addre…
We present the complete set of planar master integrals relevant to the calculation of three-point functions in four-loop massless Quantum Chromodynamics. Employing direct parametric integrations for a basis of finite integrals, we give analytic results for the Laurent expansion of conventional integrals in the parameter of dimensional regularization through to terms of weight eight.
We present analytic expressions in terms of polylogarithmic functions for all three families of planar two-loop five-point Master Integrals with one off-shell leg. The calculation is based on the Simplified Differential Equations approach. The results are relevant to the study of many $2\to 3$ scattering processes of interest at the LHC, especially for the leading-color $W+2$ jets production.
We compute the master integrals containing 2 and 3 massive propagators entering the planar amplitudes of the 2-loop electroweak form factor. The masses of the $W$, $Z$ and Higgs bosons are assumed to be degenerate. This work is a continuation of our previous evaluation of master integrals containing at most 1 massive propagator. The 1/εpoles and the finite parts are computed exactly in terms of a {\it new} class of 1-dimensional harmonic polylogarithms of the variable x, with ε=2-D/2 and D the pace-time dimension. Since thresholds and pseudothresholds in s=\pm 4m^2 do appear in addition to the…
We use the method of differential equations to analytically evaluate all planar three-loop Feynman integrals relevant for form factor calculations involving massive particles. Our results for ninety master integrals at general $q^2$ are expressed in terms of multiple polylogarithms, and results for fiftyone master integrals at the threshold $q^2=4m^2$ are expressed in terms of multiple polylogarithms of argument one, with indices equal to zero or to a sixth root of unity.
Planar master integrals for two-loop NLO electroweak light-fermion contributions to $g g \rightarrow Z H$
University of Science and Technology of China（中国科学技术大学）；State Key Laboratory of Particle Detection and Electronics, University of Science and Technology of China（中国科学技术大学粒子探测与电子学国家重点实验室）；Department of Modern Physics, University of Science and Technology of China（中国科学技术大学现代物理系）；Anhui Center for Fundamental Sciences in Theoretical Physics, University of Science and Technology of China（中国科学技术大学安徽理论物理基础科学中心）
We elaborate on the method of differential equations for evaluating Feynman integrals. We focus on systems of equations for master integrals having a linear dependence on the dimensional parameter. For these systems we identify the criteria to bring them in a canonical form, recently identified by Henn, where the dependence of the dimensional parameter is disentangled from the kinematics. The determination of the transformation and the computation of the solution are obtained by using Magnus and Dyson series expansion. We apply the method to planar and non-planar two-loop QED vertex diagrams f…
We describe the calculation of all planar master integrals that are needed for the computation of NNLO QCD corrections to the production of two off-shell vector bosons in hadron collisions. The most complicated representatives of integrals in this class are the two-loop four-point functions where two external lines are on the light-cone and two other external lines have different invariant masses. We compute these and other relevant integrals analytically using differential equations in external kinematic variables and express our results in terms of Goncharov polylogarithms. The case of two e…
We present analytic results of the two-loop master integrals for hadronic $tW$ production that contain two massive propagators. For the planar integral family, we succeed in constructing the canonical basis, so the results are written in terms of multiple polylogarithms. The master integrals in the non-planar integral families have been calculated by Taylor series expansion around $m_W^2=0$. Even with this simplification, there are multiple square roots involved in the differential equations, which can not be rationalized simultaneously. We find that a proper linear combination of the integral…
We evaluate the master integrals for the two-loop, planar box-diagrams contributing to the elastic scattering of muons and electrons at next-to-next-to leading-order in QED. We adopt the method of differential equations and the Magnus exponential series to determine a canonical set of integrals, finally expressed as a Taylor series around four space-time dimensions, with coefficients written as combination of generalised polylogarithms. The electron is treated as massless, while we retain full dependence on the muon mass. The considered integrals are also relevant for crossing-related processe…
We consider the case of a two-loop five-point pentagon-box integral configuration with one internal massive propagator that contributes to top-quark pair production in association with a jet at hadron colliders. We construct the system of differential equations for all the master integrals in a canonical form where the analytic form is reconstructed from numerical evaluations over finite fields. We find that the system can be represented as a sum of d-logarithmic forms using an alphabet of 71 letters. Using high precision boundary values obtained via the auxiliary mass flow method, a numerical…
We evaluate the master integrals for the two-loop non-planar box-diagrams contributing to the elastic scattering of muons and electrons at next-to-next-to-leading order in QED. We adopt the method of differential equations and the Magnus exponential to determine a canonical set of integrals, finally expressed as a Taylor series around four space-time dimensions, with coefficients written as a combination of generalised polylogarithms. The electron is treated as massless, while we retain full dependence on the muon mass. The considered integrals are also relevant for crossing-related processes,…
A short review is given of the simplified differential equations approach to Master Integrals, which was recently proposed by one of the authors. We show its applicability by calculating some non-trivial two-loop planar Master Integrals, namely those contributing to amplitudes of massive diboson VV' production at the LHC with massless internal lines.
We consider a planar doublebox with four massive external momenta and two massive internal propagators. We derive the system of differential equations for the relevant master integrals, cast it in canonical form, write it as a $d\log$ form and solve it in terms of iterated integrals up to depth four.
In this thesis, we study the three-loop QCD form factors. After an introduction and a discussion of the physics motivation, we generate the quark form factor using Qgraf. We then show how to bring the Feynman integrals into a unique form by using various trivial symmetries such as shifts in loop momenta. We then try (and fail) to reduce it to master integrals using the Laporta algorithm. After a discussion of our implementation of the Laporta algorithm (called "Solve") we perform an extensive classification of all the integrals into irreducible, reducible and loop-by-loop integrable topologies…
The dimensionally regularized massless non-planar double box Feynman diagram with powers of propagators equal to one, one leg off the mass shell, i.e. with p_1^2=q^2\neq 0, and three legs on shell, p_i^2=0, i=2,3,4, is analytically calculated for general values of q^2 and the Mandelstam variables s,t and u (not necessarily restricted by the physical condition s+t+u=q^2). An explicit result is expressed through (generalized) polylogarithms, up to the fourth order, dependent on rational combinations of q^2,s,t and u, and simple finite two- and three fold Mellin--Barnes integrals of products of g…
We present the first numerical results for the two-loop helicity amplitudes for the scattering of four partons and a W-boson in QCD. We use a finite field sampling method to reduce directly from Feynman diagrams to the coefficients of a set of master integrals after applying integration-by-parts identities. Since the basis of master integrals is not yet fully known analytically, we identify a set of master integrals with a simple divergence structure using local numerator insertions. This allows for accurate numerical evaluation of the amplitude using sector decomposition methods.
We present the analytic computation of all the planar master integrals which contribute to the two-loop scattering amplitudes for Higgs$\to 3$ partons, with full heavy-quark mass dependence. These are relevant for the NNLO corrections to fully inclusive Higgs production and to the NLO corrections to Higgs production in association with a jet, in the full theory. The computation is performed using the differential equations method. Whenever possible, a basis of master integrals that are pure functions of uniform weight is used. The result is expressed in terms of one-fold integrals of polylogar…
We present the analytic computation of a family of non-planar master integrals which contribute to the two-loop scattering amplitudes for Higgs plus one jet production, with full heavy-quark mass dependence. These are relevant for the NNLO corrections to inclusive Higgs production and for the NLO corrections to Higgs production in association with a jet, in QCD. The computation of the integrals is performed with the method of differential equations. We provide a choice of basis for the polylogarithmic sectors, that puts the system of differential equations in canonical form. Solutions up to we…
We compute systematically for the planar double box Feynman integral relevant to top pair production with a closed top loop the Laurent expansion in the dimensional regularisation parameter $\varepsilon$. This is done by transforming the system of differential equations for this integral and all its sub-topologies to a form linear in $\varepsilon$, where the $\varepsilon^0$-part is strictly lower triangular. This system is easily solved order by order in the dimensional regularisation parameter $\varepsilon$. This is an example of an elliptic multi-scale integral involving several elliptic sub…
We apply a recently suggested new strategy to solve differential equations for master integrals for families of Feynman integrals. After a set of master integrals has been found using the integration-by-parts method, the crucial point of this strategy is to introduce a new basis where all master integrals are pure functions of uniform transcendentality. In this paper, we apply this method to all planar three-loop four-point massless on-shell master integrals. We explicitly find such a basis, and show that the differential equations are of the Knizhnik-Zamolodchikov type. We explain how to solv…
We present the calculation of the three distinct non-planar hexa-box topologies for five-point one-mass processes. These three topologies are required to obtain the two-loop virtual QCD corrections for two-jet-associated W, Z or Higgs-boson production. Each topology is solved by obtaining a pure basis of master integrals and efficiently constructing the associated differential equation with numerical sampling and unitarity-cut techniques. We present compact expressions for the alphabet of these non-planar integrals, and discuss some properties of their symbol. Notably, we observe that the exte…
Based on the Simplified Differential Equations approach, we present results for the two-loop non-planar hexa-box families of master integrals. We introduce a new approach to obtain the boundary terms and establish a one-dimensional integral representation of the master integrals in terms of Generalised Polylogarithms, when the alphabet contains non-factorisable square roots. The results are relevant to the study of NNLO QCD corrections for $W,Z$ and Higgs-boson production in association with two hadronic jets.
We compute the color-planar and complete light quark non-singlet contributions to the heavy quark form factors in the case of the axialvector, scalar and pseudoscalar currents at three loops in perturbative QCD. We evaluate the master integrals applying a new method based on differential equations for general bases, which is applicable for all first order factorizing systems. The analytic results are expressed in terms of harmonic polylogarithms and real-valued cyclotomic harmonic polylogarithms.
The four-loop, two-point form factor contains the first non-planar correction to the lightlike cusp anomalous dimension. This anomalous dimension is a universal function which appears in many applications. Its planar part in N = 4 SYM is known, in principle, exactly from AdS/CFT and integrability while its non-planar part has been conjectured to vanish. The integrand of the form factor of the stress-tensor multiplet in N = 4 SYM including the non-planar part was obtained in previous work. We parametrise the difficulty of integrating this integrand. We have obtained a basis of master integrals …
We study master integrals needed to compute the Higgs boson production cross section via gluon fusion in the infinite top quark mass limit, using a canonical form of differential equations for master integrals, recently identified by Henn, which makes their solution possible in a straightforward algebraic way. We apply the known criteria to derive such a suitable basis for all the phase space master integrals in afore mentioned process at next-to-next-to-leading order in QCD and demonstrate that the method is applicable to next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order as well by solving a non-planar t…
We compute the three-loop QCD corrections to the massive quark-anti-quark-photon form factors $F_1$ and $F_2$ involving a closed loop of massless fermions. This subset is gauge invariant and contains both planar and non-planar contributions. We perform the reduction using FIRE and compute the master integrals with the help of differential equations. Our analytic results can be expressed in terms of Goncharov polylogarithms. We provide analytic results for all master integrals which are not present in the large-$N_c$ calculation considered in Refs. [1,2].
The dimensionally regularized master planar double box Feynman diagram with four massive and three massless lines, powers of propagators equal to one, all four legs on the mass shell, i.e. with p_i^2=m^2, i=1,2,3,4, is analytically evaluated for general values of m^2 and the Mandelstam variables s and t. An explicit result is expressed in terms of polylogarithms, up to the third order, depending on special combinations of m^2,s and t.
We present a calculation of the planar two-loop five-gluon amplitudes. The amplitudes are obtained in a variant of the generalized unitarity approach suitable for numerical computations, which we extend for use with finite field arithmetics. Employing a new method for the generation of unitarity-compatible integration-by-parts identities, all helicity amplitudes are reduced to a linear combination of master integrals for the first time. The approach allows us to compute exact values for the integral coefficients at rational phase-space points. All required master integrals are known analytical…
We present the color planar and complete light quark QCD contributions to the three loop heavy quark form factors in the case of vector, axial-vector, scalar and pseudo-scalar currents. We evaluate the master integrals applying a new method based on differential equations for general bases, which is applicable for any first order factorizing systems. The analytic results are expressed in terms of harmonic polylogarithms and real-valued cyclotomic harmonic polylogarithms.
Reduze is a computer program for reducing Feynman integrals to master integrals employing a variant of Laporta's reduction algorithm. This article describes version 2 of the program. New features include the distributed reduction of single topologies on multiple processor cores. The parallel reduction of different topologies is supported via a modular, load balancing job system. Fast graph and matroid based algorithms allow for the identification of equivalent topologies and integrals.
We compute a complete set of independent leading-color two-loop five-parton amplitudes in QCD. These constitute a fundamental ingredient for the next-to-next-to-leading order QCD corrections to three-jet production at hadron colliders. We show how to consistently consider helicity amplitudes with external fermions in dimensional regularization, allowing the application of a numerical variant of the unitarity approach. Amplitudes are computed by exploiting a decomposition of the integrand into master and surface terms that is independent of the parton type. Master integral coefficients are nume…
In a recent paper we have presented an automated subtraction method for divergent multi-loop/leg integrals in dimensional regularisation which allows for their numerical evaluation, and applied it to diagrams with massless internal lines. Here we show how to extend this algorithm to Feynman diagrams with massive propagators and arbitrary propagator powers. As applications, we present numerical results for the master 2-loop 4-point topologies with massive internal lines occurring in Bhabha scattering at two loops, and for the master integrals of planar and non-planar massless double box graphs …
We study systematically the decomposition of the Weinberg operator at three-loop order. There are more than four thousand connected topologies. However, the vast majority of these are infinite corrections to lower order neutrino mass diagrams and only a very small percentage yields models for which the three-loop diagrams are the leading order contribution to the neutrino mass matrix. We identify 73 topologies that can lead to genuine three-loop models with fermions and scalars, i.e. models for which lower order diagrams are automatically absent without the need to invoke additional symmetries…
We compute the four-loop contributions to the photon quark and Higgs quark form factors involving two closed fermion loops. We present analytical results for all non-planar master integrals of the two non-planar integral families which enter our calculation.
A brief review of recent results on analytical evaluation of double-box Feynman integrals is presented. First steps towards evaluation of massless on-shell triple-box Feynman integrals within dimensional regularization are described. The leading power asymptotic behaviour of the dimensionally regularized massless on-shell master planar triple-box diagram in the Regge limit $t/s \to 0$ is evaluated. The evaluation of the unexpanded master planar triple box is outlined and explicit results for coefficients at $1/\ep^j$, j=2,...,6, are presented.
We consider the problem of obtaining higher order in regularization parameter $ε$ analytical results for master integrals with elliptics. The two commonly employed methods are provided by the use of differential equations and direct integration of parametric representations in terms of iterated integrals. Taking non-planar elliptic vertex as an example we show that in addition to two mentioned methods one can use analytical solution of differential equations in terms of power series. Moreover, in the last case it is possible to obtain the exact in $ε$ results expressible either in terms of gen…
