Power suppressed corrections show new features of infrared cancellations

Abstract

The cancellation of infrared (IR) divergences is an old topic in quantum field theory whose main results are condensed into the celebrated Kinoshita-Lee-Nauenberg (KLN) theorem. In this paper, we consider mass-suppressed corrections to the leading (i.e. double-logarithmic) IR divergences in the context of spontaneously broken gauge theories. We work in a simplified theoretical set-up based on the spontaneously broken $U'(1)\otimes U(1)$ gauge group. We analyze, at the one-loop level and including mass-suppressed terms, the double-logarithmic corrections to the decay channels of a hypothetical heavy $Z'$ gauge boson coupled to light chiral fermions and mixed with a light massive $Z$ gauge boson. Limited to this theoretical framework, only final state IR corrections are relevant. We find that full exploitation of the KLN theorem requires non-trivial combinations of various decay channels in order to get rid of the mass-suppressed IR corrections. Based on this observation we show that, starting from any two-body decay of the heavy $Z'$ gauge boson, the cancellation of the mass-suppressed double-logarithmic corrections requires the sum over the full decay width (thus enforcing the inclusion of final states which are na\"{\i}vely unrelated to the starting one). En route, we prove a number of technical results that are relevant for the computation of mass-suppressed double-logarithms of IR origin. Our results are relevant for models that enlarge the Standard Model by adding a heavy $Z'$.