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Liu, Zelong

Publications and source records attributed to Liu, Zelong.

Three-loop soft function for energetic electroweak boson production at hadron colliders

We calculate the three-loop soft function for the production of an electroweak boson (Higgs, γ , W ± , Z ) with large transverse momentum at a hadron collider. It is the first time a soft function for a three-parton process is computed at next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order (N 3 LO). As a technical novelty, we perform the calculation in terms of forward-scattering-type loop diagrams rather than evaluating phase space integrals. Our three-loop result contains color-tripole contributions and explicitly confirms predictions on the universal infrared structure of QCD scattering amplitudes with three massless parton legs. The soft function is a central ingredient in the factorized cross section for electroweak boson production near the kinematic endpoint (threshold), where the invariant mass of the recoiling hadronic radiation is small compared to its transverse momentum. Our result is required for predictions of the near-threshold cross sections at N 3 LO and for the resummation of threshold logarithms at primed next-to-next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic (N 3 LL') accuracy.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Factorization at subleading power and endpoint divergences in h → γγ decay. Part II. Renormalization and scale evolution

Building on the recent derivation of a bare factorization theorem for the b-quark induced contribution to the h → γγ decay amplitude based on soft-collinear effective theory, we derive the first renormalized factorization theorem for a process described at subleading power in scale ratios, where λ = m b /M h « 1 in our case. We prove two refactorization conditions for a matching coefficient and an operator matrix element in the endpoint region, where they exhibit singularities giving rise to divergent convolution integrals. The refactorization conditions ensure that the dependence of the decay amplitude on the rapidity regulator, which regularizes the endpoint singularities, cancels out to all orders of perturbation theory. We establish the renormalized form of the factorization formula, proving that extra contributions arising from the fact that “endpoint regularization” does not commute with renormalization can be absorbed, to all orders, by a redefinition of one of the matching coefficients. We derive the renormalization-group evolution equation satisfied by all quantities in the factorization formula and use them to predict the large logarithms of order $αα^2_sL^k$ in the three-loop decay amplitude, where $L=ln(-M^2_h/m^2_b)$ and k = 6, 5, 4, 3. We find perfect agreement with existing numerical results for the amplitude and analytical results for the three-loop contributions involving a massless quark loop. On the other hand, we disagree with the results of previous attempts to predict the series of subleading logarithms $~αα^n_sL^{2n+1}$

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Factorization at subleading power and endpoint-divergent convolutions in h → γγ decay

t is by now well known that, at subleading power in scale ratios, factorization theorems for high-energy cross sections and decay amplitudes contain endpoint-divergent convolution integrals. The presence of endpoint divergences hints at a violation of simple scale separation. At the technical level, they indicate an unexpected failure of dimensional regularization and the $\overline{MS}$ subtraction scheme. In this work, we start a detailed discussion of factorization at subleading power within the framework of soft-collinear effective theory. As a concrete example, we factorize the decay amplitude for the radiative Higgs-boson decay h → γγ mediated by a b-quark loop, for which endpoint-divergent convolution integrals require both dimensional and rapidity regulators. We derive a factorization theorem for the decay amplitude in terms of bare Wilson coefficients and operator matrix elements. We show that endpoint divergences caused by rapidity divergences cancel to all orders of perturbation theory, while endpoint divergences that are regularized dimensionally can be removed by rearranging the terms in the factorization theorem. We use our result to resum the leading double-logarithmic corrections of order $α^n_sln^{2n+2}(-M^2_h/m^2_b)$ to the decay amplitude to all orders of perturbation theory.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗